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ELWANG 

THE  NEGROES  OF  COLUMBIAl 
MISSOURI 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  NEGROES  OF  COLUMBIA 
MISSOURI 


A  CONCRETE  STUDY  OF  THE  RACE 
PROBLEM 


\    DISSERTATION  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  DEPART- 
MENT   OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    MISSOURI,   IN    PARTIAL    FULFILL- 
MENT OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE 
OF  MASTER  OF  ARTS 


(OKFAKTMKNT  OK  SOCIOLOGY) 


By 
WILLIAM  WILSON  ELWANG,  M.    A. 


WITH    A    PREFACE 


CHARLES  A.  ELLWOOD,  Ph.  D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   SOCIOLOGY. 


Published  by  Department  of  SocaoLooy 

University  of  Missouri 

1904, 

PHICF.  SO  CENTS 


MAP 

5H0WIMG  LOCATION  Or 

HEGRO  POPULATE 


IN  THE 


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COLUMBIA,  MO. 


Note:- 

A  Heqro    Owner,  Rented    t>f  Meqro. 
■        "  ,  Occupied  by  Same. 

•   White    OT<ner,  Rented  to  Negro 
tn   Megro  Church 
Q    Fred    Douqlas    School    {.Negro). 


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THE  NEGROES  OF  COLUMBIA 
MISSOURI 


A  CONCRETE  STUDY  OF  THE  RACE 
PROBLEM 


A  DISSERTATION  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  DEPART- 
MENT   OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MISSOURI,  IN   PARTIAL    FULFILL- 
MENT OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE 
OF  MASTER  OF  ARTS 


(DEPARTMENT  OF  SOCIOLOGY) 


By, 

WILLIAM  WILSON  ELWANG,  M.  A 

l 


WITH    A    PREFACE 


CHARLES  A.  ELLWOOD,  Ph.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  SOCIOLOGY. 


Published  by  Department  of  Sociology 

University  of  Missouri 

1904 

PRICE  50  CENTS 


Copyrighted,  1904  by  the 
UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOURI 


COLUMBIA,  MO.: 

Press  of  E.  W.  Stephens 

1904 


RL  F 

PREFACE 


The  following  monograph  on  the  condition  of  the 
negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri,  does  not  profess  to  be 
based  upon  complete  statistical  data.  As  these  were 
impossible  to  obtain,  it  is  rather  a  collection  of  impres- 
sions received  from  personal  observations,  which  while 
falling  short  of  scientific  accuracy,  may  nevertheless  be 
considered  trustworthy.  Indeed,  the  general  trust- 
worthiness of  the  picture  presented  by  the  monograph 
would  not  be  questioned  by  any  intelligent  resident  of 
the  community  in  which  the  study  was  made.  The  few 
statistics  which  have  been  obtained  from  official  sources 
and  through  personal  investigation  confirm  the  impres- 
sions received  from  general  observation. 

The  problem  discussed  is  of  such  importance  that 
even  the  results  of  a  limited  study  of  the  condition  of 
the  negro  population  in  a  given  locality  are,  I  am  sure, 
worthy  of  publication.  The  conditions  which  prevail 
in  Columbia,  moreover,  although  a  community  in  a  bor- 
der State,  are  typical  in  many  respects  of  the  conditions 
which  obtain  among  the  negroes  in  Southern  towns  gen- 
erally. The  University  undertakes  the  publication  of 
this  Master's  dissertation,  then,  in  the  belief  that  it  may 
be  of  some  possible  value  to  students  of  the  race  prob- 
lem. It  is  published  also  for  the  sake  of  illustrating 
the  work  of  the  Department  of  Sociology  in  the  Univer- 
sity's exhibit  in  connection  with  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition. 

The  author  of  vthe  monograph  is  a  gentleman  of 
Southern  antecedents  and  education;  but  the  opinions 
expressed  on  various  points  seem  to  me  remarkably  free 
from  personal  or  sectional  bias.     Particularly  do  I  find 


in 


1661853 


rv  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

myself  in  hearty  accord  with  the  main  conclusions 
reached  in  the  final  chapter. 

I  must  confess  that,  after  three  years  residence  in  a 
community  where  thirty  per  cent  of  the  population  are 
negroes,  I  have  been  compelled  to  revise  to  some  extent 
my  opinions  upon  the  race  question.  How  totally  out  of 
adjustment  the  average  negro  is  to  the  society  in  which 
he  lives,  has  been  impressed  upon  me  as  never  before. 
No  Northern  person  can  fully  comprehend  this  without 
having  experienced  the  fact.  Yet  it  should  be  fully  re- 
alized by  all  who  are  concerned  either  with  the  discus- 
sion of  the  problem  or  with  the  practical  work  of  uplift- 
ing the  race. 

Primarily  this  lack  of  adjustment  is  on  the  econo- 
mic side.  The  average  negro  as  a  wage-worker  secures 
neither  the  respect  of  his  employer  nor  a  competence 
for  himself.  He  is  not  adapted  to  the  free  wage  system. 
Herein  lies  the  crux  of  the  difficulty.  As  a  consequence, 
those  relations  of  mutual  respect  and  affection  which  so 
often  subsisted  between  the  colored  man  and  his  em- 
ployer, under  the  regime  of  slavery,  now  scarcely  exist. 
As  a  further  consequence,  the  relations  between  the 
races,  in  almost  every  community  in  the  South,  are 
strained  to  the  point  of  disruption.  This  is  as  true  of 
the  relations  between  the  better  classes  of  whites  and 
the  negroes  as  it  is  of  the  relations  between  the  negroes 
and  those  whites  who  make  no  profession  of  being  actu- 
ated by  Christian  principles  in  their  dealings  with  the 
lower  race.  Harmonious  relations  between  the  races 
cannot  exist  until  the  negro  becomes  satisfactory  as  an 
instrument  of  production  under  a  system  of  free  con- 
tract; that  is,  until  the  negro  wage-earner  secures  the 
respect  of  his  white  employer  by  his  efficiency,  fidelity, 
and  honesty  in  his  work. 

The  negro  problem  is,  then,  primarily  a  problem  in 
economic  adjustment.     If  this  is  true,  the  solution  of 


Preface  v 

the  problem— putting  aside  all  deportation  and  coloniza- 
tion schemes  as  at  once  fatuous  and  impossible— con- 
sists first  of  all  in  giving  the  negro  such  training  as  will 
fit  him  for  a  place  in  our  industrial  life.  This  means 
industrial  training  in  the  broad  sense  of  the  phrase,  for 
the  masses  of  the  colored  population,  such  as  will  de- 
velop in  them  the  character  and  intelligence  necessary 
for  efficiency  in  production  on  the  one  hand,  and  for 
citizenship,  on  the  other.  It  may  fairly  be  claimed  that 
Mr.  Booker  Washington  and  others  have  demonstrated 
the  feasibility  and  practicability  of  such  industrial 
training  for  the  negro  on  a  large  scale.  But  only  the 
Federal  Government  can  undertake  to  carry  it  out.  The 
intervention  of  the  Federal  Government  is  demanded, 
then,  if  anything  effective  is  to  be  done  toward  the  solu- 
tion of  the  negro  problem.  The  negroes,  like  the  In- 
dians, are  still  essentially  a  nature  people.  There  is  no 
reason  why  the  Federal  Government  should  not,  at  least 
during  their  minority,  regard  them,  like  the  Indians, 
as  wards  of  the  Government,  and  provide  for  their  edu- 
cation accordingly.  Only  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Fed- 
eral Government  would  not  repeat  with  the  negro  the 
blunders  which  it  has  made  in  its  attempts  to  educate 
and  civilize  the  Indian. 

This,  I  understand,  is  the  position  of  the  author  of 
this  monograph.  If  its  publication  serves  at  all  to  dif- 
fuse this  idea,  I  shall  be  glad.  For  the  people  of 
the  United  States  can  not  too  soon  make  up  their 
minds  that  anything  like  an  approximate  solution  of  this 
problem  calls  for  Federal  intervention.  It  is  surely 
time  to  act  when  one  hears,  as  I  have  heard,  Northern 
men  of  abolitionist  ancestry,  who  have  come  to  reside 
in  the  South,  say  in  private  that  they  think  that  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery  was  a  mistake. 

Charles  A.  Ellwood. 
The  University  of  Missouri, 
Columbia,  Mo. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PREFACE ....-- 

INTRODUCTORY -        -        - 

CHAPTER  I— Historical 

CHAPTER  II— Economic  Conditions  -  - 
CHAPTER  III— Occupations  and  Wages 

CHAPTER  IV— Benevolent,  Insurance,  and  Social  Societies 
CHAPTER  V— Religious  Life 

CHAPTER  VI— Education 

CHAPTER  VII— Health  and  Morals    - 

CHAPTER  VIII— Crime 

CHAPTER  IX— Politics 

CHAPTER  X— The  Negro's  Future  - 


pages 
in-v 

1-  5 

7-13 

14-19 

20-28 

29-32 

33-37 

38-44 

45-55 

56-59 

60-62 

63-69 


VII 


THE  NEGROES  OF  COLUMBIA,  MISSOURI 

A  Concrete  Study  of  the  Race  Problem 


INTRODUCTORY 

The  presence  of  more  than  9,000,000  negroes  in  the 
United  States,  most  of  them  massed  below  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line,  has  created  problems  economic,  political 
and  social  of  tremendous  importance  to  the  present  and 
future  of  this  nation.  Opportunities  for  the  solution  of 
some  of  these  problems  have  been  golden,  but  blunders 
of  would-be-reformers  and  political  chicanery  quite 
effectually  demoralized  both  races,  and  the  opportuni- 
ties were  not  improved.  Happily,  it  is  not  yet  too  late 
to  remedy  the  errors  of  the  past.  By  the  application 
of  a  discreet  and  worthy  program,  based  upon  a  real 
knowledge  of  the  real  facts,  and  with  a  saner  concep- 
tion of  mutual  duty,  it  is,  perhaps,  still  possible  to  build 
up  conditions  that  will  enable  the  races  reciprocally  to 
discharge  obligations  that  cannot  much  longer  be 
ignored  without  the  inexorable  degeneration  of  the 
entire  national  social  organism.  The  instinct  of  nat- 
ional self-preservation  sternly  demands  that  an  honest, 
intelligent  and  persistent  effort  be  made  to  bring  the 
two  seemingly  antithetical  peoples  into  helpful  accord 
and  sympathy,  into  harmonious  economical  and  polit- 
ical, yes,  even  social  adjustment. 

But  for  the  achievement  of  this  desirable  end  there 
must  be,  first,  a  thorough  survey,  and  secondly,  an  in- 
telligent comprehension  of  the  problem.     Until  quite 

(1) 


2  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

recently  trustworthy  facts,  beyond  the  superficial  or 
extraordinary  dealt  with  by  the  literary  historian,  were 
exceedingly  scarce,  or,  to  be  more  accurate,  had  not 
been  systematized  for  the  sociological  student.  But 
now  encouraging  beginnings  have  been  made  in  this  di- 
rection. There  are  at  command  such  extensive  studies 
of  the  problem  as  Prof.  W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois'  "The  Phila- 
delphia Negro"*  a  careful  and  thorough  piece  of  work. 
It  is  no  disparagement  of  this  valuable  "study"  to  say 
that  it  is  more  than  doubtful  whether  the  negro  as  he 
"lives  and  moves  and  has  his  being"  in  Philadelphia 
can  safely  be  looked  upon  as  typical  of  his  Southern 
brother  except  in  his  more  general  race  characteristics. 
Prof.  Du  Bois '  own  figures  amply  demonstrate  that  the 
negro  has  never  formed  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
population  of  that  city,  averaging  since  1790  only  about 
six  per  cent,  of  the  total.  While  the  negro's  position 
everywhere  in  this  country  is  entirely  anomalous  and 
artificial,  it  seems  to  be  much  more  so  in  what  were  the 
ante-bellum  free  states  than  in  the  old  slave-holding 
communities.  The  South  has  been  and  is  to-day  the 
American  negro 's  home.  The  first  African  slaves  ever 
brought  to  the  North  American  continent  were  landed 
in  the  South,  either  in  Florida  or  Virginia.  It  was  in 
the  South  that  slavery  became  most  firmly  rooted,  bred 
its  inevitable  moral  debasement  of  the  human  chattels 
themselves,  and  wrought  its  innumerable  evils  upon  the 
ruling  class.  It  was  in  the  South  that  the  vast  bulk  of 
the  slaves  were  set  adrift  as  freedmen,  entirely  incap- 
able of  self -direction,  and  producing  an  abrupt  dis- 
arrangement of  all  previously  existing  economic,  polit- 
ical and  social  order.  And  it  is  in  the  South  only  that 
the  relations  of  the  two  races  have  bred  the  problems 
that  confront  the  nation  to-day.  It  is  in  that  section, 
therefore,   that  the  negro,  his  character,   environment 


•University  of  Pennsylvania  Press,  1899. 


Introductory  3 

and  capacity,  ought  to  be  most  carefully  observed  if 
the  key  to  his  future  is  ever  to  be  found.  It  was  this 
conviction  that  prompted  this  study  of  a  typical  situa- 
tion. It  is  earnestly  hoped  that  it  may  throw  another 
small  ray  of  light  into  a  very  dark  problem  and  lead 
to  wider  observations  and,  therefore,  broader  gener- 
alizations by  other  and  more  competent  laborers  in  the 
same  field. 

This  little  brochure  is,  therefore,  an  attempt  to 
study,  systematically,  the  vital,  economical,  social,  and 
ethical  conditions  of  the  nearly  two  thousand  negroes 
living  in  the  city  of  Columbia,  Missouri,  in  the  years 
1901  and  1902.  While  some  effort  has  been  made  to 
secure  reliable  historical  data,  the  chief  concern  has 
been  to  ascertain  actually  existing  conditions,  on  the 
theory  that  the  value  of  a  fact  for  scientific  purposes 
decreases  in  proportion  to  its  distance  in  time  and  space 
from  the  observer. 

The  investigations  began  with  a  house  to  house 
canvass  by  a  class  of  students  in  Sociology  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Missouri  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  C.  A. 
Ellwood,  the  head  of  that  department.  The  data  were 
mostly  quite  easily  obtained,  but  in  some  important 
lines  of  the  investigations,  such  as  births  and  deaths, 
immorality  and  crime,  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to 
reach  the  needful  facts.  The  negro,  like  the  China- 
man in  America,  has  both  an  esoteric  and  an  exoteric 
standard  of  living.  The  conclusions  so  frequently 
drawn  from  observations  of  his  conduct  when  in  con- 
tact with  the  whites  in  public  are  altogether  superficial 
and  misleading.  A  very  conscientious  effort  has  there- 
fore been  made  to  get  somewhat  beneath  the  outward 
and  seeming,  to  scratch,  as  it  were  the  thin  veneer  of 
appearances  and  secure  for  what  it  may  be  worth 
toward  a  solution  of  the  problem,  a  true  insight  into 
the  Columbia  negro's  domestic  and  social  life,  as  well 


4  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

as  the  economic  conditions  in  an  environment  in  which 
he  has  existed  for  three  full  generations  in  all  the 
phases  of  his  people's  history  in  this  country. 

The  utmost  care  has  been  exercised  to  make  the 
investigations  as  reliable  as  possible.  Recourse  was 
always  had  to  the  best  available  means  of  information 
and  then  "to  naught  extenuate  nor  set  down  aught  in 
malice. ' ' 

But,  of  course,  though  he  strive  ever  so  earnestly  to 
be  scientifically  neutral,  there  is  always  the  liability  that 
the  investigator  will  be  swayed  by  the  bias  of  early 
training  or  by  convictions  previously  formed.  The  res- 
iduum of  error  in  work  like  this,  in  which  the  per- 
sonal factors  of  both  the  investigator  and  the  investi- 
gated enter  so  largely,  must  necessarily  be  considerable. 
But  it  is  confidently  believed  that  in  spite  of  the  bias 
due  to  the  personal  equation,  and  the  defects  inherent 
in  the  statistical  method,  the  results  are  sufficiently  accu- 
rate for  bases  of  future  work  in  race  sociology.  The 
reader  must  remember  that  this  is  not  so  much  an  at- 
tempt to  answer  the  race  problem  as  an  effort  to  put  cer- 
tain facts  into  a  f orm  in  which  they  will  by  and  by  assist 
to  an  answer. 

As  already  intimated,  the  peculiar  value  of  the  pres- 
ent inquiry  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  negro  problem  in 
Columbia,  Missouri,  in  nowise  differs  essentially  from 
that  problem  elsewhere,  in  the  South,  or  wherever  ne- 
groes are  found  in  sufficient  numbers  to  be  felt  as  fac- 
tors in  any  department  of  the  people's  activities.  The 
negro  has  lived  in  Columbia  for  more  than  three  gener- 
ations, first  as  a  slave  and  then  as  a  freedman,  and  al- 
ways in  sufficiently  large  numbers  to  make  plain  and 
pressing  the  same  issues  which  his  presence  raises  else- 
where. In  Columbia  to-day  (1900)  there  are  no  less 
than  1,916  persons  of  negro  descent,  living  side  by  side 
with   3,735   persons   of   Caucasian   extraction,   closely 


Introductory  5 

dependent  upon  and  yet  more  or  less  segregated  from 
them  in  the  life  process.  These  nearly  2,000  negroes, 
a  community  within  a  community,  present  the  usual 
quota  of  ignorance,  poverty,  and  crime  of  the  submerged 
classes  of  all  communities.  Politically  there  is  here  the 
same  partisan  affiliation  as  elsewhere  in  the  South.  So- 
cially there  are  exactly  the  same  caste  distinctions.  Rac- 
ially there  is  the  same  antipathy  with  tolerance.  It  is, 
in  a  word,  the  same  old  and  seemingly  so  hopelessly 
complex  problem  of  the  childish  race  in  competition  with 
the  manly.  Left  to  themselves  no  peoples  of  the  black 
race  have  ever  risen  much  above  the  primordial  stage. 
None  has  ever  created  an  institution  or  given  birth  to  a 
social  organization  above  the  plane  of  barbarism.  No 
division  of  it  has  ever  had  a  written  language,  or  devel- 
oped an  architecture.*  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether, 
under  the  tuition  of  the  masterful  Caucasians,  and  in 
racial  amalgamation  with  them,  the  hybrid  descendants 
of  the  two  will  show  any  greater  aptitude  to  rise  to 
something  permanent  and  worthy. 


•See  Keane's  Ethnology,  p.  268. 


THE  NEGROES  OF  COLUMBIA,  MISSOURI 

A  Concrete  Study  of  the  Race  Problem 


CHAPTER  I 


HISTORICAL   AND    STATISTICAL 


AVhen  that  vast  area  known  as  the  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase was  transferred  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  in  1803,  the  French  and  Spanish  social  institu- 
tions were  left  almost  entirely  undisturbed.  Prominent 
among  those  institutions  was  slavery,  which  had  been  in- 
troduced into  the  territory  nearly  a  century  before  the 
last  change  of  jurisdiction.  In  1719  a  Sieur  Renault, 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  famous  Mississippi  Company, 
in  need  of  laborers  for  the  mining  operations  in  and 
about  Ste.  Genevieve,  imported  via  St.  Domingo, 
500  Guinea  negroes,*  the  poorest  type  of  full-blood 
Africans,  to  supply  the  want.  In  1722,  by  further 
importations,  the  number  had  grown  to  2,100.  In 
the  decade  between  1750  and  1760  there  were 
two  slaves  to  every  white  person  in  the  colony. 
But  such  was  the  influx  of  adventurers  and  settlers  into 
the  virgin  region  that  in  1799  there  was  only  one  slave 
to  every  five  white  persons.  Comparing  the  rates  of  in- 
crease of  the  two  elements  of  the  population  of  what  was 
first  the  Territory  and  afterwards  became  the  State  of 
Missouri,  from  1799,  when  a  census  was  taken  by*  the 
authorities,  we  secure,  including  free  negroes  (always 
an  insignificant  element  in  this  region),  the  following 
figures : 

♦Switzler,  History  of  Missouri^  p.  143. 

(7) 


8 


The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 


Comparative  Rates  of  Increase  op  the  Races  in  Mis- 
souri. 


Year. 

Whites. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

Negroes. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

1799 

4,948 

1,080 

1810 

17,227 

248.16 

3,618 

235.00 

1820 

56,274 

226.66 

10,369 

186.06 

1830 

114,795 

103.99 

25,660 

147.47 

1840 

323,898 

182.55 

59,814 

133.10 

1850 

592,004 

82.08 

90,040 

50.53 

1860 

1,063,489 

79.47 

118,503 

31.61 

1870 

1,603,146 

50.88 

118,071 

—  .36 

1880 

2,022,826 

26.18 

145,350 

23.10 

1890 

2,528,458 

24.99 

150,726 

3.69 

1900 

2,944,443 

12.51 

161,822 

7.36 

In  Boone  county,  of  which  Columbia  is  the  county 
seat,  we  have,  since  1830,  when  the  county  was  created, 
these  comparative  rates  of  increase  of  the  whites  and 
negroes : 

Comparative  Rates  of  Increase  of  the  Races  in  Boone 

County. 


Year. 

Whites. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

Negroes. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

1830 

8,859 

1,924 

1840 

13,561 

53.07 

3,030 

57.48 

1850 

14,979 

11.19 

3,679 

21.41 

1860 

19,486 

30.09 

4,574 

24.33 

1870 

20,765 

1.43 

4,038 

-11.07 

1880 

25,422 

22.42 

5,082 

25.85 

1890 

26,043 

2.44 

4,677 

-7.97 

1900 

28,642 

9.98 

4,564 

-2.41 

Historical  and  Statistical  9 

For  the  town  of  Columbia  itself  the  figures,  since 
1860,  are  as  follows: 

Comparative  Rates  op  Increase  of  the  Races  in  Co- 
lumbia, and  Percentage  of  Negroes 
to  Total  Population. 


Year. 

Whites. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

Negroes. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

Per  cent 
total  pop 

1860 

873 

541 

38.26 

1870 

1,438 

64.69 

798 

47.50 

35.68 

1880 

2,031 

40.54 

1,295 

62.28 

38.93 

1890 

2,406 

19.05 

1,593 

23.01 

39.83 

1900 

3,735 

55.23 

1,916 

23.10 

33.90 

Comparing   the   percentages   of    increase   in   the 
county  with  those  in  Columbia,  we  obtain  this  exhibit: 

Comparison  of  the  Rates  of  Increase  of  the  Races  in 
Boone  County  and  Columbia. 


Year. 

Whites. 

Negroes . 

County. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

Town. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

County. 

Increase 
per  cent. 

Town. 

Inc 
per  ct. 

1860 
1870 
1880 
1890 
1900 

19,486 
20,765 
25,422 
26,043 
28,642 

1.43 

22.42 

2.44 

9.98 

843 
1,438 
2,031 
2,406 
3,735 

64.69 
40.54 
19.85 
55.23 

4,574 
4,038 
5,082 
4,677 
4,564 

-11.07 
25.85 
-7.97 
-2.41 

541 

798 

1,295 

1,593 

1,961 

47.50 
62.28 
23.01 
23.10 

After  making  due  allowance  for  the  atrociously  de- 
fective census  of  1870,  an  inspection  of  these  tables  re- 
veals several  interesting  things :  (1)  That  from  their 
earliest  importation  to  Missouri  soil  the  negroes  have 
steadily  increased  in  numbers,  clearly  demonstrating 
that  they  are  as  much  at  home  here,  climatically  and 
economically,  as  in  more  Southern  latitudes;  (2)  That 
the  percentages  of  increase  of  whites  and  negroes  have 


10 


The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 


been  quite  uniformly  maintained  in  the  State,  in  Boone 
county,  and  in  Columbia,  from  the  earliest  census  period 
until  1890,  in  which  year  a  decided  decrease  of  the  per- 
centage of  increase  shows  itself  among  the  negroes  of 
the  State,  with  only  a  slight  recovery  in  1900,  while  in 
Boone  county  there  is  a  positive  decrease;  (3)  That 
here,  as  elsewhere,  the  negroes  show  a  strong  and  de- 
plorable tendency  to  congest  at  the  centers  of  population. 
AVhile  the  negro  population  of  Boone  county  was  actu- 
ally decreasing,  from  1880  to  1900,  that  of  Columbia 
was  steadily  increasing.  At  present  the  percentage  of 
negroes  to  population  in  the  county  is  only  15.93,  and 
nearly  one-half  of  them  are  gathered  in  Columbia.  It 
is,  of  course,  precisely  this  feature  which  accentuates 
the  difficulties  of  the  problem. 

The  actual  population  of  Boone  county,  by  color 
and  sex,  and  the  contact  of  the  races,  is  comprehensively 
shown  in  this  table : 


Population  of  Boone  County,  1900,  by  Color  and  Sex. 


Race. 

Pop.  by 
Color 

Pop.  by 
Sex 

Percent. 

Whites.... 

Male 

Female . 

24,078 

14,599 
9,479 

84.07 
60.63 
39.37 

Negroes. . . 

Male 

Female . . 

4,564 

2,253 
2,311 

15.93 
49.36 
50.63 

Historical  and  Statistical  11 

In  Columbia  the  situation  is  as  as  follows : 
Population  of  Columbia,  1900,  by  Color  and  Sex. 


Race 

Pop  by 
Color 

Pop  by 
Sex 

Per  cent 

Whites  ... 
Male  — 
Female.. 

3,734 

1,803 
1,931 

66.07 
48.28 
51.71 

Negroes... 
Male  — 
Female. . 

1,916 

852 
1,064 

33.90 
44.46 
55.53 

The  conspicuous  features  of  the  last  two  tables  are : 
(1)  The  preponderating  number  of  white  males  in  the 
county,  with,  on  the  other  hand,  a  preponderating  num- 
ber of  white  females  in  the  town;  (2)  The  preponder- 
ating number  of  negro  females  in  both  town  and  county, 
a  condition  not  without  its  influence  both  economically 
and  morally. 

Comparing  the  races  in  Columbia  by  color  and 
school  age  we  obtain  these  results : 

The  Races  in  Columbia,  1900,  by    Color  and  School 
Age  (5-20  yrs.) 


Whites 

Negroes 

553 

605 

329 

Females    . 

386 

Some  light  is,  perhaps,  shed  upon  the  characteristics 
of  the  negroes  when  we  attempt  to  determine  their  res- 
idential stability  as  a  portion  of  Columbia's  population. 
An  effort  was  therefore  made  to  ascertain,  for  heads  of 
families  only,  how  long  they  had  lived  continuously  in 
the  city.  The  results  show  that  the  236  persons  from 
whom  reliable  information  could  be  had  can  be  divided 


12  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

into  four  classes :  (1)  Those  born  in  Columbia  before  the 
war  of  secession  and  residing  there  ever  since;  (2) 
those  born  elsewhere,  but  who  came  to  Columbia  before 
the  war  and  have  lived  there  ever  since;  (3)  those  born 
in  Columbia  since  the  war  and  still  living  there;  (4) 
those  who  immigrated  to  Columbia  since  the  war  and 
have  remained  there.  This  last  class  can,  in  turn,  be 
subdivided  into  four  classes;  (a)  those  who  have  lived 
in  Columbia  from  35  to  20  years;  (b)  those  who  have 
lived  there  from  20  to  10  years;  (c)  those  who  have 
lived  there  from  10  years  to  1  year ;  (d)  those  who  have 
lived  there  less  than  1  year. 

Analyzing  the  first  four  main  divisions  we  obtain 
the  following: 

Thirty-three  were  born  in  .Columbia  before  the 
Civil  War  and  still  reside  there. 

Eleven  were  born  elsewhere  but  were  brought  to 
Columbia  before  the  ^ar  and  still  live  there. 

Thirty-nine  were  born  in  Columbia  since  the  war 
and  still  live  there. 

One  hundred  and  fifty-three  immigrated  to  Colum- 
bia since  the  war  and  still  live  there. 

Subjecting  the  last  class  to  more  minute  analysis 
we  find  that : 

Fifty-eight  have  lived  in  Columbia  from  20  to  35 
years,  and  that  of  this  number— 

Twenty-one  had  a  previous  residence  in  Boone 

county. 
Twelve  had  a  previous  residence  elsewhere  in 

Missouri. 
Thirteen  had  a  previous  residence  outside  of 

the  State. 
Twelve  had  a  previous  unknown  residence. 
Twenty-two  have  lived  in  Columbia  from  10  to  20 
years,  and  that  of  this  number— 

Thirteen  had  a  previous  residence  in  Boone 
county. 


Historical  and  Statistical  13 

Six  had  a  previous  residence  elsewhere  in  Mis- 
souri. 
One  had  a  previous  residence  outside  of  the 

State. 
Two  had  a  previous  unknown  residence. 
Sixty-two  have  lived  in  Columbia  from  1  to  10  years 
and  that  of  this  number— 

Twenty-two  had  a  previous  residence  in  Boone 

county. 
Thirty-four  had  a  previous  residence  elsewhere 

in  Missouri. 
One  had  a  previous  residence  outside  of  the 

State. 
Five  had  a  previous  unknown  residence. 
Eleven  have  lived  in  Columbia  one  year  and  less, 
and  that  of  this  number— 

Four    had   a   previous    residence   in    Boone 

county. 
Four  had  a  previous  residence  elsewhere  in 

Missouri. 
Two  had  a  previous  residence  outside  of  the 

State. 
One  had  a  previous  unknown  residence. 


CHAPTER  II 


ECONOMIC   CONDITIONS 


Our  next  inquiry  will  be  concerned  with  the  Colum- 
bia negro  as  a  wealth-producer  and  his  consequent  ma- 
terial progress  since  the  Civil  War. 

Before  emancipation  the  negro  free-holder  of  Co- 
lumbia was  a  safely  negligible  quantity  in  the  town's 
economic  situation.  Only  an  infmitesimally  small  por- 
tion of  the  thirty  or  forty  millions  of  dollars  of  property 
then  held  by  freedmen  in  the  slave  states  was  in  his 
hands.  And  if  the  usual  estimate  of  $700,000,000  as  the 
accumulations  of  the  race  in  the  South  to-day  be  correct, 
then  the  proportion  has  been  steadily  maintained.  The 
negroes  of  Columbia  hold  about  one-tenthousandth  part 
of  the  race's  wealth  in  the  South,  but  constitute  about 
one  five-thousandth  of  the  race  numerically. 

The  city  of  Columbia  does  not  make  any  race  dis- 
tinctions on  her  tax  lists.  It  was,  therefore,  somewhat 
difficult  to  secure  the  data  shown  below.  But  with  the 
assistance  of  a  gentleman  who  had  been  for  a  number  of 
years  the  local  tax  assessor,  a  complete  list  of  property 
values  assessed  (on  about  a  one-third  basis)  against 
the  negro  population,  was  obtained.  The  results  are  in- 
teresting and  instructive.  They  destroy  the  prevailing 
local  impression  that  Columbia  negroes  as  a  class  are 
unusually  thrifty  and  property-accumulating. 

The  following  table  gives  a  comprehensive  view  of 
the  total  assessed  property  values  of  Columbia  for  both 
races : 


(14) 


Economic  Conditions  15 

Assessed  Property  Values  of  Columbia,  1900. 


Kind  of  property. 

Whites. 

Negroes. 

Total. 

Real 

$1,164,360 
663,815 

$54,630 
23,425 

$1,218,990 
687,240 

Personal 

Total 

$1,828,175 

78,055 

$1,906,230 

The  entire  number  of  persons,  irrespective  of  color, 
paying  taxes  upon  property  both  personal  and  real  is 
1,585,  or  28.05  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  5,651. 
The  entire  number  of  white  taxpayers  upon  both 
classes  of  property  is  1,155,  or  30.09  per  cent  of  the  total 
white  population  of  3,735. 

The  entire  number  of  negro  taxpayers  upon  both 
classes  of  property  is  434,  or  22.05  per  cent  of  the  total 
negro  population  of  1,916. 

Of  the  434  negro  taxpayers  185  pay  taxes  upon 
real  estate  only.  Of  these  104  are  men,  74  are  women, 
and  in  7  cases  husband  and  wife  are  jointly  assessed; 
112  pay  taxes  upon  both  real  and  personal  property; 
242  pay  taxes  upon  personal  property  only. 

The  total  of  assessed  real  and  personal  property, 
$78,055,  is  distributed  among  the  434  holders  as  follows : 

Owning  between  $7,500  and  $5,000 1 

Owning  between  $3,000  and  $2,000 4 

Owning  between  $2,000  and  $1,000 3 

Owning  between  $1,000  and  $500 23 

Owning  between  $500  and  $100 147 

Owning  between  $100  and  less 256 

These  figures  show— 

(1)  That  the  entire  negro  population  of  Columbia 
(33.90  percent  of  the  total)  possesses  only  4.09  per  cent 
of  the  city 's  entire  taxable  property  other  than  that  in- 
vested in  banking,  of  which  no  account  has  been  taken, 
and  of  which  they  hold  none  whatever. 


16  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

(2)  That  they  hold  4.48  per  cent  of  the  real,  and 
only  3.42  per  cent  of  the  personal  property. 

(3)  That,  assuming  the  average  negro  taxpayer 
to  have  begun  his  career  in  1865  without  a  cent,  it  ap- 
peal's that  he  has  managed  to  provide  for  himself  since 
that  time  and  to  accumulate,  in  addition,  property  to  the 
value  of  $181.52.  Or  if  we  average  the  total  of  $78,055 
among  the  whole  negro  population,  we  find  that,  since 
the  war,  they  have  not  only  managed  to  make  a  living 
but  have  accumulated  in  addition,  property  which,  if 
equally  distributed,  would  give  them  approximately 
$40.75  per  capitum. 

W.  H.  Thomas,  himself  a  negro,  in  his  book  on 
"The  American  Negro,"  places  the  individual  average 
of  accumulation  throughout  the  South  at  the  present 
day  at  $90.00  per  capitum.*  But  this  is  evidently  an 
estimate  of  the  total  rather  than  the  assessed  property 
valuation.  The  Columbia  negro  would,  therefore,  seem 
to  be  somewhat  better  off,  financially,  than  his  fellows 
elsewhere. 

(4)  That  nearly  one-half  of  all  the  negro  prop- 
erty is  in  the  possession  of  31  persons.  That  of  this 
half,  or  $37,265,  nearly  three-fifths,  or  $22,315  is  in  the 
hands  of  eight  persons.  In  other  words,  over  one 
fourth  of  all  the  negro  property  of  Columbia  is  in  the 
hands  of  these  eight  persons.  Still  further,  of  this  $22,- 
315  owned  by  8  persons,  one-third  or  $7,500,  is  owned 
by  one  man  and  $3,000  more  by  his  wife. 

(5)  That  only  31  of  the  434  negro  taxpayers  have 
shown  a  measurable  ability  not  only  to  make,  but  (and 
this  is  of  more  importance)  to  hold  on  to  money.  Four 
hundred  and  three  must  be  put  down  as  lacking  in  the 
thrift  that  always  characterizes  a  progressive  people. 

(6)  That  land  ownership,  always  a  powerful  fac- 
tor in  the  up-lift  of  any  class  or  people,  is  still  notably 


*Thomas,  The  American  Negro,  p.  76. 


Economic  Conditions 


17 


lacking  among  Columbia  negroes  taken  as  a  class.  Out 
of  a  total  of  1,176  homes  in  Columbia  only  132  are  owned 
by  negroes. 

(7)  That  of  a  total  tax-revenue  of  $18,000.00  re- 
ceived by  the  city  only  $700.00  is  paid  by  negroes. 
Thirty-three  and  ninety  one-hundreTlths  per  cent  of  the 
population  pays  3.14  per  cent  of  the  taxes. 

By  summing  up  much  of  the  foregoing  into  tabu- 
lated form  we  get  this  exhibit  of 

Property  Distribution  Among  Columbia  Negroes. 


$181.52 

Held  by  thirty-one  individuals. . . 

40.75 

$37,365 

47.75* 

22,315 

28.06* 

$78,055 

♦Per  cent  of  total  holdings. 

It  has  not  been  found  possible  to  take  account  in 
these  returns  of  the  mortgage  and  other  indebtedness 
upon  either  real  or  personal  property.  From  the  ac- 
knowledgements of  the  owners  a  total  of  only  $8,250  of 
mortgage  indebtedness  upon  33  pieces  of  real  property 
was  obtained,  an  average  of  $250  on  each  piece.  The 
real  figures  are  very  much  larger.  There  are,  in  ad- 
dition, many  claims  and  liens  held  by  ''time-payment" 
concerns  that  prey  greedily  upon  the  negro's  monumen- 
tal cupidity  and  vanity.  These  claims  are  held  against 
stock,  pianos,  organs,  sewing  machines,  pictures  and 
furniture.  It  is  probable  that  one-fourth  of  the  per- 
sonal property  is  more  or  less  encumbered  in  this  way. 
In  its  effects  upon  the  negro  as  a  potential  property  ac- 
cumulator, this  system  is  exceedingly  deplorable. 
Easily  persuaded  to  invest  by  a  plausible  canvasser 
eager  for  his  percentage,  he  remains  the  proud  posses- 

(2) 


18  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

sor  of  a  squeaky  melodeon  or  rattle-trap  sewing  machine 
for  a  few  weeks  or  months,  only  to  have  it  then  taken 
from  him  because  of  his  inability  or  disinclination  to 
continue  the  burden  of  the  weekly  payments. 

To  sum  up,  the  returns  seem  to  show  that  while  as 
taxpayers  simply  the  negroes  are  proportionately  nearly 
as  much  in  evidence  as  their  white  fellow-citizens,  the 
free-holders  among  them  are  comparatively  few.  The 
showing  is  quite  discouraging.  There  do  not  seem  to 
be  any  very  cogent  reasons  why  the  Columbia  negroes 
have  not  accumulated  more  property.  That  a  few  have 
been  able  to  make  and  save  a  great  deal  goes  to  show 
that  the  field  has  at  least  been  open  to  their  industry 
and  enterprise. 

The  causes  for  failure  are  doubtless  many.  The 
very  low  rate  of  wages  obtained  for  such  labor  as  the 
negro  can  do,  together  with  the  steadily  rising  price  of 
real  estate,  even  in  the  localities  by  rigid  caste  distinc- 
tion set  aside  for  him,  have  something  to  do  with  the 
failure.  But  laziness,  misdirected  energy,  lack  of  fore- 
sight, pleasure-seeking,  immorality,  have  all  been  much 
more  potent  factors  in  keeping  him  in  poverty.  These 
traits  lie  at  the  root  of  his  economic  failure. 

Nor  can  it  be  said  that  there  are  any  very  hopeful 
local  signs  of  betterment.  The  present  wage  and  indus- 
trial situation  in  Columbia  is  as  good,  nay,  it  is  much 
better  than  it  has  been  in  years.  Wages  have  steadily 
risen  all  along  the  line  of  the  negro 's  endeavor.  Skilled 
workmen,  reliable  laborers  and  good  servants  are  in 
great  demand.  That  he  appreciates  this  fact  and  pro- 
poses to  make  the  best  of  it  is  not  apparent.  The  aver- 
age negro  in  Columbia  to-day  is  as  shiftless  and  indif- 
ferent to  the  future  as  ever  his  predecessor  was  in 
slavery.  As  a  laborer  his  chief  characteristics  are  un- 
reliability and  inability.  If  he  has  a  dollar  in  his  pocket 
he  can  not  see  the  necessity  for  toil.     He  takes  more 


Economic  Conditions  19 

pleasure  in  the  regalia  of  a  secret  society  than  in  the 
comfort  of  his  home.  He  will  cheerfully  give  a  tenth  or 
a  fifth  of  his  weekly  wage  to  a  petty,  and  perhaps,  fraud- 
ulent, society  to  insure  the  burial  of  his  unworthy  body 
with  unbecoming  pomp.  But  to  lay  aside  as  much  per 
week  against  the  coming  of  the  inevitable  ''rainy  day" 
is  a  feature  of  domestic  economy  utterly  beyond  his 
ability.  Only  three  or  four  of  all  the  Columbia  negroes 
are  members  of  the  local  building  and  loan  association, 
and  they  are  borrowers. 

There  are,  certainly,  some  conspicuous  exceptions 
to  these  generalizations.  Among  Columbia's  negro 
population  are  to  be  found  men  and  women  who  by  at- 
tention to  duty,  reliability,  intelligent  thrift,  and,  a  rare 
virtue  among  post-bellum  blacks,  a  genuine  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  their  employers,  have  accumulated  prop- 
erty and  have  won  the  respect  of  their  white  neighbors. 
It  would  have  been  a  grateful  task  to  the  writer  to  en- 
large upon  the  affairs  of  this  small  minority,  but  space 
and  time  both  forbade.  Eecognition  of  their  worth 
ought  not  to  be  withheld,  even  though,  as  is  the  case,  the 
white  blood  in  their  veins  is  largely  accountable  for 
their  success. 

An  interesting  side-light  is  shed  upon  the  negro's 
economic  situation  by  the  report  of  the  Columbia  Char- 
ity Organization  Society  for  1901- '02.  Of  the  cases  dealt 
with  by  this  society,  enumerated  as  families,  35  were 
whites  and  33  negroes;  enumerated  as  individuals  156 
were  whites  and  138  negroes.  Even  with  due  allowance 
made  for  21  cases  caused  by  a  smallpox  epidemic  among 
the  negroes  in  the  winter  of  the  period  in  question,  the 
proportion  of  helpless  or  readily  dependent  poverty  rep- 
resented by  these  figures  is  very  high. 


CHAPTER  in 


OCCUPATIONS   AND   WAGES 


How  do  all  these  negroes  earn  a  living?  is  a  ques- 
tion frequently  asked  in  Columbia  when,  especially  on 
Saturdays,  hundreds  of  them  are  seen  strolling  aimlessly 
about  or  lounging  at  the  street  corners  or  in  front  of  the 
dramshops.  What  follows  is  probably  the  first  system- 
atic attempt  ever  made  to  -answer  that  question.  Nor  is 
it  by  any  means  an  easy  one  to  answer.  The  problem 
it  raises  is  complicated  and  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
its  solution  great.  Here  is  a  large  group  of  persons, 
most  of  them  crassly  ignorant,  inefficient,  and  often  dis- 
honest, in  competition  with  a  much  larger  group  of  well- 
trained,  steady  and  masterful  persons  of  a  different 
race,  upon  whom  it  devolves  in  some  wise,  to  solve  the 
pressing  problem  of  economic  survival,  the  everlasting 
question  of  "bread."  How  do  they  do  it?  What  do 
these  1,916  people  do  for  a  living?  A  detailed  answer  is 
found  in  the  following  schedule : 

Of  859  persons,  10  years  old  and  over,  (417  males 
and  442  females,  or  about  four-fifths  of  all  the  race's 
wage-earners  in  Columbia)  about  whom  reliable  infor- 
mation could  be  obtained— 

Twenty-five  were  in  the  ' '  learned ' '  professions. 

Sixty  were  in  "skilled"  trades. 

Twenty-four  were  independent  proprietors  or  in 
more  or  less  responsible  positions. 

One  hundred  and  sixty-three  were  a  superior  class 
of  laborers. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-three  were  cooks. 

Two  hundred  and  thirteen  were  laundresses. 

Two  hundred  and  forty-one  were  common  laborers. 

(20) 


Occupations  and  Wages 


21 


The  gainful  occupations  of  the  males  were  divided 
into  the  following  classes : 

Musicians  1. 
Physicians  1. 
Plasterers  3. 
Pool-room  proprietors  1. 
Painters  and  paperers  3. 
Porters  4. 
Pedlers  1. 
Quarrymen  2. 
Restaurateurs  1. 
Railroad  employees  3. 


Barbers  16. 
Butchers  2. 
Bartenders  3. 
Bricklayers  8. 
Blacksmiths  4. 
Clerks  5. 
Coachmen  4. 
Carpenters  3. 
Cooks  1. 
Contractors  3. 
Clergymen  4. 
Engineers  2. 
Farmhands  15. 
Houseservants  13. 
Hodcarriers  2. 
Janitors  8. 
Laborers  209. 
Millers  2. 
Messengers  5. 
Merchants  2. 
Miners  5. 
Total,  417. 


Stewards  6. 
Soldiers  1. 
Scullions  1. 
Scavengers  7. 
Shoeblacks  2. 
Teachers  3. 
Teamsters  54. 
Tailors  1. 
Tinners  1. 
Waiters  4. 
Wheelwrights  1. 


Among  females  the  gainful  operations  divide  as 
follows : 

Boarding-house  keepers  1.  Nurses  2. 

Cooks  93.  Pedlers  1. 

Housekeepers  36.  Seamstresses  14. 

Housegirls  45.  Scullions  1. 

Hairdressers  3.  ' '  Students ' '  10. 

Laborers  11.  Teachers  7. 

Laundresses  213.  Waitresses  5. 
Total,  442. 


22  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

Observations  on  this  exhibit  seem  to  be  needless. 
Every  reader  will  note  at  once  the  poor  showing  made 
by  skilled  labor.  The  trained  mechanic  still  remains 
in  a  pitiful  minority  amid  a  mob  of  common  laborers, 
teamsters  and  others  only  a  degree  or  two  higher  in  the 
scale.  The  women  are  mostly  cooks  and  laundresses, 
and  very  indifferent  ones  at  that.  The  exhibit  is  ex- 
ceedingly discouraging,  and  all  the  more  so  when  we  call 
to  mind  the  fact  that  Lincoln  Institute,  the  State's  nor- 
mal and  industrial  school  for  negroes,  is  located  only 
thirty  miles  from  Columbia,  at  Jefferson  City,  and  has 
been  there  for  thirty-five  years ! 

The  Wage  Question.  What,  now,  is  the  earning 
capacity  of  the  859  persons  engaged  in  these  more  or 
less  gainful  occupations'?  The  reply  will  be  found  in 
the  following  tables,  in  which  the  wage-earners  are  di- 
vided into  three  cesses  as  they  earn,  always  according 
to  their  own  statements,  either  from  $1.00  to  $5.00  per 
week,  or  from  $5.00  to  $10.00,  or  from  $10.00  upwards. 
To  the  first  class  belong  151  males  and  230  females ;  to 
the  second,  159  males  and  53  females;  to  the  third,  54 
males  and  no  females.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of 
females  in  the  second  class  and  their  total  absence  from 
the  third  is  worthy  of  remark.  There  were  53  males 
and  149  females  whose  incomes  could  not  be  ascertained, 
but  whose  earning  capacity  is  averaged,  in  a  fourth  col- 
umn, at  $4.00  per  week,  certainly  a  high  figure : 


Occupations  and  Wages 
Table  of  Weekly  Wages  of  Males. 


23 


Occupations. 

I 

$1   to     $5  to     $10  up  Ave'ge 

$5           $10                      of  $4 
>er  wk  per  wk  per  wk  per  wk 

4 

2 

10 

Bartenders. . .  . 

1 

2 

Blacksmiths.  .  . 

7 

2 

1 

1 

Carpenters. . . . 

1 

2 

3 

1 

1 

Clergymen .... 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

2 

Farmhands. . .  • 

9 

6 

Hodcarriers. . . 

2 

Houseservants. 

9 

1 

3 

5 

3 

74 

106 

29 

2 

C 

Messengers.  .  .  . 

5 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

Painters  and  P 

o 

1 

1 

2 

Pool -room  Prop.. 

2 

2 

Physicians.  .  .  . 

1 

Quarrymen.  .  .  . 

2 

1 

Railroad  hands 

1 

2 

Restaurateur. . 

1 

Scavengers.  .  .  . 

4 

1 

2 

1 

2 

I 

6 

1 

1 

•> 

18 

16 

20 

1 

4 

1  Wheelwrights. 

-     ' 

24 


The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 


If,  now,  we  assume  that  the  first  class,  earning  be- 
tween $1.00  and  $5.00  per  week,  averages  at  least  $3.00 ; 
that  the  second  class,  earning  from  $5.00  to  $10.00  per 
week,  averages  at  least  $7.00;  that  those  of  the  third 
class,  earning  $10.00  and  above,  average  at  least  $12.00, 
then,  with  the ' '  unknowns ' '  averaged  at  $4.00,  we  secure 
as  the  earning  capacity  per  week  for  the  first  class,  the 
sum  of  $453.00,  for  the  second  class  $1,113.00,  for  the 
third  class  $594.00,  and  for  the  " unknowns"  $212.00, 
or  a  grand  total  of  $2,372.00  per  week  for  all  the  wage- 
earning  negro  males  of  Columbia.  By  dividing  this 
amount  by  417,  the  total  number  of  male  wage-earners, 
we  obtain  $5.69  as  the  average  weekly  wage  of  negro 
men  in  Columbia. 


Weekly  Wages  of  Females. 


Occupation 

$1  to 

$5 
per  wk 

$5  to 

$10 

per  wk 

$10  up 
per  wk 

Ave'ge 
of  $4 
per  wk 

Boarding-house. . 

57 

4 
112 
8 
2 
1 
1 
9 
29 

2 

5 

15 
1 

30 

2 
5 

1 
21 

2 
32 
71 

3 

3 
16 

Hairdressers . . 
Housekeepers. 
Laundresses. . . 

Seamstresses. . 
Waitresses 

230 

57 

149 

Occupations  and  Wages  25 

If,  as  in  the  case  of  the  males,  we  assume  that  the 
first  class  averages  at  least  $3.00,  that  the  second  class 
averages  at  least  $7.00,  that  the  "unknowns"  (there  are 
none  of  the  third  class)  earn  at  least  $4.00,  we  secure  as 
the  earning  capacity  of  class  one,  $690.00,  of  class  two 
$371.00,  and  of  the  "unknowns"  $596.00,  or  a  grand 
total  of  $1,657.00  per  week  for  all  the  wage-earning 
negro  females  of  Columbia.  Dividing  this  amount  by 
442,  the  total  number  of  female  wage-earners,  we  obtain 
$3.75  as  the  average  weekly  wage  of  negro  women  in 
Columbia. 

By  adding  the  $2,372.00  earned  by  the  men  per  week 
to  the  $1,657.00  earned  by  the  women,  we  obtain  $4,- 
029.00,  a  sum  which  is  the  money  equivalent  of  the 
weekly  ability  of  nearly  all  of  Columbia's  negro  wage- 
earners  of  both  sexes. 

If,  once  more,  we  divide  this  amount  by  859,  the 
whole  number  of  negro  wage-earners,  we  obtain  $4.76, 
the  equivalent  in  dollars  and  cents  of  the  earning  capac- 
ity per  week  of  the  average  negro  wage-earner  of  either 

sex. 

Again,  by  dividing  the  grand  total,  $4,029,  by  1,916, 
Columbia's  negro  population,  we  find  that  the  average 
man,  woman  and  child  has  an  income,  from  labor,  of 
$2.10  per  week. 

And  this  is  practically  all  these  people  have  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  living:  to  pay  rent  and  taxes,  to 
buy  clothing  and  food,  to  provide  church  and  lodge 
dues  and  insurance,  to  secure  recreation,  and  to  meet 
all  the  incidental  demands  of  their  situations,  such  as 
the  doctor's  fees  and  medical  supplies  in  case  of  illness. 

Of  the  320  families  reporting  upon  this  particular 
point,  only  133  had  kitchen-gardens  to  help  set  the 
family  table,  and  only  134  (frequently,  of  course,  the 
same  families)  kept  live  stock  (other  than  horses  and 
mules,  of  which  they  had  96  head)  to  assist  in  increasing 


26  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

the  family  income.  Together  the  134  families  owned 
372  chickens  and  ducks,  204  hogs,  and  58  cows  and 
calves. 

There  are  in  Columbia  18  negroes  who  are  pen- 
sioners of  the  National  Government.  They  receive,  all 
told,  $157.00  per  month.  Only  14  were  found  who  had 
an  income  from  rents.  This  source  netted  them,  alto- 
gether, $141.00  per  month. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  " white  folks"  must 
gratuitously  support,  from  their  larders,  by  way  of  the 
backdoor,  a  large  proportion  of  the  negro  population  of 
the  town. 

Since  the  above  facts  were  collected  a  new  enter- 
price  has  been  started  by  several  of  the  more  intelligent 
and  well-to-do  negroes.  It  is  a  commercial  venture  in 
the  shape  of  a  grocery  store  on  a  more  extensive  scale 
than  anything  heretofore  attempted  by  members  of  the 
race  in  Columbia.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  or  no 
success  will  crown  the  undertaking. 

Domestic  "Help."  A  discussion  of  the  "servant 
girl  problem ' '  is  not  here  proposed,  nor  yet  an  exhaus- 
tive statistical  exhibition  of  the  general  domestic  ser- 
vice existing  in  Columbia.  What  follows  is  offered 
simply  in  the  way  of  "side-light"  on  the  larger  ques- 
tion of  "master  and  servant"  as  it  exists  in  the  South. 

Accurate  information  was  secured  from  33  white 
families— all  of  them  well-to-do,  some  wealthy— on  the 
following  points:  (1)  how  many  servants  each  em- 
ployed regularly;  (2)  what  wages  were  paid;  (3)  how 
long  they  had  been  in  their  employ ;  (4)  how  many  had 
been  employed  in  succession  in  three  years  past;  (5) 
whether  those  now  employed  were  over  or  under  50 
years  of  age. 

The  intent  of  the  last  question  was  to  discover,  if 
possible,   a   difference  in  the  efficiency  and  "staying 


Occupations  and  Wages  27 

quality"  between  those  trained  in  slavery  and  those  who 
have  come  upon  the  scene  since  the  race  obtained  its 
freedom. 

The  results  are  as  follows: 

The  33  families  were  found  to  employ  39  servants, 
all  of  them  negroes,  as  housegirls,  cooks,  nurses,  and 
men-of-all-work. 

The  wages  paid  ranged  from  $6.00  per  month  and 
"keep"  (which  frequently  includes  a  room  and  fuel), 
for  an  untrained  hand,  to  three  times  that  sum  for  a 
competent  servant.     The  average  was  $9.78  per  month. 

During  the  three  years  preceding  the  enquiry  these 
33  families  had  employed  no  less  than  141  different  ser- 
vants, or  about  4  each,  giving  each  servant  an  average 
of  9  months  of  service  with  a  family.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  this  average  is  secured  by  computing 
the  terms  of  service  of  that  kind  of  help  which  is  at 
the  command  of  well-to-do  and  wealthy  families  only. 
The  general  average  term  of  service  is  much  shorter. 

One  of  the  33  families  reported  having  had  24  ser- 
vants in  the  three  years;  another  17;  and  still  another, 
12.  Instances  are  numerous  where  the  "help"  was 
changed  as  often  as  every  month,  or  even  every  week, 
for  months  in  succession. 

Thirty  servants  were  under,  only  three  over,  50 
years  of  age. 

It  is  the  unanimous  testimony  of  housekeepers  that 
Columbia's  colored  "help"  is,  in  nine  out  of  every  ten 
instances,  utterly  incompetent.  It  is  ignorant,  shiftless, 
lazy,  impudent,  and  dishonest,  But  the  whites  have  been 
so  long  accustomed  to  this  kind  of  "help"  in  their  homes 
that  they  accept  the  situation  in  a  spirit  of  mingled  in- 
dignant helplessness  and  philosophic  resignation. 

Almost  incredible  are  the  experiences  told  by  Co- 
lumbia housekeepers  anent  their  relations  with  negro 
domestics.     The  problem  seems  to  most  of  them  a  hope- 


28  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

less  one.  Nothing  can  be  done  with  subordinates  who 
cannot  learn,  and  would  not  if  they  could. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  ' '  saving  remnant, ' '  both  men 
and  women,  of  integrity  and  sufficient  capacity.  They 
are  good  citizens,  and  enjoy  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  their  white  employers.  It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that 
they  nearly  all  of  them  have  much  white  blood  in  their 
veins. 

There  are,  all  told,  not  a  half-dozen  white  domestic 
servants  in  Columbia.  The  local  poor  whites  do  not 
seem  inclined  to  dispute  the  negro's  supremacy  in  this 
department,  and  no  systematic  effort  has  ever  been 
made  to  introduce  white  "help"  from  abroad. 


CHAPTER  IV 

BENEVOLENT,  INSURANCE  AND  SOCIAL  SOCIETIES 

An  important  feature  of  the  social  and  economic 
situation  of  the  negroes  of  Columbia,  as  elsewhere 
among  the  race  in  this  country,  is  the  rapid  development 
and  spread  among  them  of  all  sorts  of  beneficial,  insur- 
ance and  "burial"  societies.  This  is  not,  however,  a 
phenomenon  peculiar  to  negroes.  The  same  craze  is 
found  among  the  whites,  from  whom  the  imitative 
negroes  not  only  copy  it,  but  by  whom  it  is  often  im- 
posed upon  them  for  selfish  purposes  of  exploitation. 

The  societies  may  be  divided  into  two  general 
classes,  as  they  are  organized  and  controlled  by  the 
negroes  themselves,  with  functions  partly  economic  and 
partly  social,  and  as  they  are  organized  and  managed 
for  them  by  whites  for  purely  insurance  purposes,  some- 
times honestly  and  sometimes,  it  is  to  be  feared,  to  prey 
upon  an  all  too  gullible  people. 

In  Columbia  there  are  at  least  eight  societies  of  the 
former  kind.  Of  these  the  Masons  are  the  oldest, 
strongest,  and  most  influential.  The  lodge  was  organ- 
ized in .    Its  meetings  are  held  in  a  room  in  the 

Boone  County  National  Bank  building,  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  city.    Another  flourishing  society  of  this  class  is 

that  of  the  Odd  Fellows,  organized  in .    A  very 

much  younger,  but  very  vigorous  society  is  that  of  the 

Knights  of  Pythias,  organized  in .    The  purely 

negro  societies  (all  of  them,  by  the  way,  secret  and 
ritualistic)  sum  up  a  total  of  332  members,  male  and 
female,  with  initiation  fees  ranging  from  $1.50  to  $25.00, 
monthly  dues  from  $0.25  to  $0.85,  and  death  benefits 
from  merely  burial  expenses  up  to  burial  expenses  and 
$300.00  additional.    Only  one  of  the  societies,  the  Odd 

(29) 


30 


The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 


Fellows,  seems  to  allow  a  sick  benefit,  $3.00  per  week. 
The  332  members,  nearly  one-sixth  of  Columbia's  negro 
population,  contribute  regularly  about  $115.00  per 
month,  or  $1,380.00  per  year  into  these  societies  as  dues. 
This  does  not  include  the  assessments  which  must  nec- 
essarily follow  upon  any  unusual  increase  in  the  death- 
rate  of  the  membership. 

The  following  table  gives  a  comprehensive  view  of 
the  status  of  the  various  societies  in  the  spring  of  1902 : 

Negro  Secret  Beneficial  Societies. 


NAME. 

Mem- 
ber- 
ship 

Initia- 
tion 
Fee 

Mon- 
thly 
Dues 

BENEFITS 

69 

$26  00 

.50 

Burial  expenses,  $50.00,  and  for 
family  of  deceased,  $100.00. 

Odd  Fellows 

41 

13  00 

.65 

At  death,  $175.00,  Sick  benefit  of 
$3.00  per  week, 

Knights  of 

39 

$7  50 

.42 

to  .85 

Burial  expenses,  and  for  family 
from  $150.00  to  $300.00. 

Independent  Or- 
der of  Seven. . . 

80 

$3  00 

.25 

Burial  expenses,  and  for  family 
$100.00. 

Old  Order  of 

20 

$2  50 

.25 

Burial  expenses,    and  for  family 

$75.00. 

Sisters  and 
Brothers  of 
Jerusalem. . . . 

12 

$1  50 

.25 

Burial  expenses. 

Golden  Queen 
Court 

50 

.25 

Burial  expenses,  $50.00. 

Union  Benevo- 
lent Society. . . 

31 

$5  00 

.50 

Burial  expenses,  $60.00,  and  for 
family  $100.00. 

Totals 

332 

$115.00 

Societies  31 

But  very  much  more  important  from  an  economic 
standpoint  are  the  two  organizations  operating  among 
the  negroes  of  Columbia  but  controlled  by  whites.  The 
one,  a  purely  insurance  concern,  and  presumably  a 
thoroughly  reliable  one,  is  the  Metropolitan  Insurance 
Company  of  New  York.  Complete  statistics  of  this  com- 
pany 's  business  with  its  local  clients  could  not  be  ob- 
tained. It  was  a  surprise  to  the  writer  to  learn  that, 
governed  probably  by  the  necessity  imposed  upon  it  by 
the  impecuniosity  of  its  dusky  patrons,  it  does  business 
with  them  almost  entirely  upon  the  petty  five  and  ten 
cents  weekly  payments  plan.  It  has  between  eight  and 
nine  hundred  policy-holders  in  the  county.  The  policies 
range  from  $100.00  up  to  $2,000.00.  In  April,  1902,  it 
had  in  force  one  policy  for  $2,000.00,  eighteen  for 
$1,000.00,  and  thirty-seven  for  $500.00.  The  others 
were  below  the  last-named  figure  and  mostly  for  $100.00. 
It  is  perfectly  safe  to  assume  that  its,  say,  850  policy- 
holders pay  $70.00  per  week,  or  $3,640.00  per  year  to 
this  concern  as  premiums.  According  to  the  company's 
agent  the  patrons  keep  up  the  payments  of  their  pre- 
miums remarkably  well.  If  he  is  not  mistaken  there  is 
in  this  respect  a  vast  difference  between  the  patrons  of 
his  company  and  those  of  the  "Co-operative  Mystic 
League,"  the  other  concern  managed  by  whites  doing 
business  in  Columbia. 

This  "League"  was  organized  in  1896  and  has  at 
this  writing  (April,  1902)  341  members  or  holders  of  its 
certificates.  The  most  valuable  certificate  issued 
matures  at  $2,000.00,  the  lowest  at  $200,00.  The  aver- 
age for  those  in  force  at  the  above  date  was  $500.00. 

In  addition  to  the  insurance  feature  there  is  a  "sick 
indemnity"  scheme  by  which  the  highest  certificate  al- 
lows the  holder  a  weekly  benefit  of  $10.00  in  case  of 
sickness  and  the  lowest  a  benefit  of  $2.50  in  such  a  con- 
tingency. 


32  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

The  average  cost  to  the  341  members  of  this  com- 
bination scheme  is  $0.50  per  month  per  member.  This 
would  be  about  $2,000.00  per  year  for  the  entire  mem- 
bership. 

Combining  the  annual  dues  paid  by  the  members  of 
the  eight  secret  societies  and  the  annual  premiums  paid 
to  the  two  insurance  companies  gives  us  a  grand  total  of 
$7,020.00  paid  out  per  year  by  the  Columbia  negroes, 
mostly  for  the  sake  of  a  "  respectable ' '  burial. 

A  still  more  interesting  exhibit  is  obtained  when  we 
consider  the  following  facts,  cheerfully  furnished  to  the 
writer  by  the  accommodating  manager  of  the ' '  League. ' ' 

Of  the  whole  number  admitted  to  membership  dur- 
ing the  past  six  years,  38.50  per  cent,  never  made  a 
second  payment,  frequently  did  not  complete  the  first; 
72  per  cent,  of  them  lapsed  during  the  first  year ;  5  per 
cent,  more,  after  paying  through  the  first  year,  lapsed 
during  the  next  five  years.  In  other  words,  77  per  cent, 
of  the  membership  admitted  during  the  past  six  years 
(since  1896)  lapsed  before  the  spring  of  1902,  leaving 
only  a  meagre  23  per  cent,  in  force. 

Comment  upon  these  figures  is  unnecessary.  Every 
reader  can  draw  his  own  conclusions  about  the  negro's 
inability  to  persevere  long  in  a  course  of  action  looking 
to  a  future  good  if  it  involves  a  present  self-denial.  It 
is  doubtless  true  that  many  are  overpersuaded  by  glib 
agents  to  join  these  concerns  in  the  first  instance.  But 
it  is  also  true  that  many  of  them  could  readily  make 
their  payments  if  they  could  forego  the  doubtful  benefits 
of  frequent  railroad  excursions  and  similar  diversions. 
Lamentable  improvidence  and  wastefulness  seem  to  be 
inherent  traits  of  negro  character. 


CHAPTER  V 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE 


There  was,  of  course,  no  such  thing  as  a  negro 
church  in  Columbia  or  Boone  county  before  the  Civil 
War.  A  few  of  the  more  intelligent  and  respectable 
negroes  here  as  elsewhere  were  members  of  the  white 
churches.  For  religious  guidance  and  instruction  the 
slaves  were,  as  a  rule,  dependent  almost  entirely  upon 
the  thoughtfulness  of  the  wives  and  daughters  of  their 
owners  and  upon  the  more  or  less  fitful  ministrations 
of  the  pastors  of  white  churches.  Negro  ' '  preachers, ' ' 
so  called,  sometimes  held  services  in  the  white  churches 
when  these  could  be  obtained,  but  the  exercises,  even 
amid  the  restraining  influence  of  this  environment,  were 
usually  only  a  shade  removed  from  those  current  in  the 
"quarters"  and  fields.  Rapt  songs,  weird  and  plain- 
tive music,  sensuous  exercises,  exclamations  and  wails, 
together  with  "sermons"  best  described  as  "loud  and 
long,"  made  up  the  staple  of  worship. 

Immediately  after  the  war  two  negro  preachers, 
W.  P.  Brooks,  still  living  in  Moberly,  Missouri,  and 
Barton  Hillman,  appeared  upon  the  scene  and  organized 
in  Columbia  what  is  now  the  Second  Baptist  church,  in 
the  house  occupied  by  Thad  Lang.  Soon  after,  in  1868, 
the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  church  entered  this 
field.  The  third  organization  was  not  effected  until 
1879,  when  a  congregation  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
denomination  came  into  being.  The  same  year  gave 
birth  to  the  fourth  and  last  church,  that  of  the  Christian 
Campbellites. 

The  following  table  gives  a  comprehensive  view 
of    the    numerical    and    financial    strength    and    the 

(33)      3 


34 


The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 


benevolent  activities  of  these  churches.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  two  Methodist  branches  have  a  very  decided 
numerical  majority.  They  are  followed,  at  some  dis- 
tance, by  the  Baptists,  and  far  to  the  rear  by  the  Chris- 
tian Campbellites.  The  financial  showing  is  chiefly  re- 
markable because  it  reveals  the  fact  that  the  710  negro 
church  members  of  Columbia  give  little  or  nothing  for 
home  and  foreign  missions  or  for  local  charities.  About 
ten  cents  per  member  per  year  for  these  purposes  and 
three  dollars  for  all  other  purposes,  does  not  reveal  a 
very  altruistic  conception  of  religious  obligation. 

The  Negro  Churches  op  Columria. 


Denomi- 
nation. 

Mem- 
bers'p 

Pastor's 
Salary 

For 
H.&F. 

Miss. 

For 
Cha'ty 

For  In- 
cid'lEx 

Value  of 
Ch.  Bld'g. 

Value  of 
Parsonage 

Total  Debt 

Baptist.. 
A.  M.   B. 

M.    E.    ... 
Christian 

251 

239 

162 

58 

710 

$     600.00 

1,000.00 

200.00 

$20.00 

17.00 

5.00 

.90 

$15.00 
11.00 

$210.00 

300.00 

125.00 

60.00 

$12,500.00 

10,000.00 

4,000.00 

1,000.00 

$4,500.00 

300.00 

1,700.00 

$     700.00 
300.00 

Totals. 

$1,800.00 

$42.90 

$26.00 

$695.00 

$27,500.00 

$1,000.00 

$6,500.00 

The  church  buildings  belonging  to  these  different 
sects  reflect  to  a  certain  extent  the  somewhat  unusual 
munificence  of  the  white  congregations  of  Columbia  in 
providing  for  themselves  elegant  edifices  in  which  to 
worship  God.  The  negro  Baptist  denomination,  for  ex- 
ample, has  property  on  Broadway,  Columbia's  main 
thoroughfare,  on  which  three  of  the  white  churches  are 
situated,  which  is  valued  at  $12,500.  Their  house  of 
worship  is  illustrated  on  another  page.  The  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  denomination  has  property  in 
the  heart  of  the  negro  section  valued  at  $10,000.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  owns  property  worth 
$4,000.  The  Christian  Campbellites  value  their  frame 
house  and  lot  at  $1,000.00.     How  much  of  all  this  prop- 


Religious  Life  35 

erty  was  secured  by  persistent  and  extensive  begging 
from  the  whites  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  say.  Nor 
must  it  be  overlooked  that  it  is  still  heavily  encumbered 
with  debt.  But  we  have,  nevertheless,  the  curious  phe- 
nomenon of  1,916  negroes,  composing  33.90  per  cent  of  a 
community's  population  (but  holding  only  4.09  per  cent, 
of  that  community's  property,  and  represented  in 
scarcely  any  line  of  business  enterprise  whatever) 
owning  church  property  equal  in  value  to  nearly  one- 
third  of  all  their  other  property.  When  he  attends 
church  the  Columbia  negro  is  in  surroundings  not  at  all 
commensurate  with  his  financial  ability.  The  meager 
exhibit  of  the  foregoing  table  in  the  way  of  contributions 
for  other  than  local  needs  need  not,  therefore,  sur- 
prise us. 

The  pastors  of  these  churches  at  this  writing  are  all 
men  past  middle  life.  In  native  ability,  training  and 
conduct  they  are  probably  quite  above  the  average  of 
the  many  negro  "preachers"  that  infest  the  South,  and 
curse  rather  than  bless  their  people.  Two  of  them  have 
only  an  ordinary  grammar  school  education,  one  is  a 
graduate  of  a  high  school  and  holds,  in  addition,  a  de- 
gree of  " Master  of  Ancient  Languages"  from  an  ob- 
scure school  somewhere  in  Missouri,  and  the  other  has 
enjoyed  special  theological  training  under  the  direction 
of  a  white  minister.  Careful  inquiry  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  churches  tailed  to  find  more  than  an  occas- 
ional regret,  from  the  intelligent  and  progressive,  that 
the  pulpit  ministrations  of  these  men  were  intellectually 
and  spiritually  far  too  shallow  to  be  of  any  value  to 
their  auditors.  But,  as  in  the  case  of  many  a  white  min- 
ister, the  negro  preacher  simply  obeys  the  law  of  supply 
and  demand.  He  is  content  to  achieve,  as  a  rule,  the 
standard  which  his  flock  sets  for  him.  Poor  leadership 
morally  and  empty  sermons  intellectually  are  much 
more  easily  condoned  by  the  ordinary  negro  congrega- 


36  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

tion  than  inability  to  draw  the  crowd  and  secure  money 
and  erect  showy  church  edifices. 

Negro  religious  life  in  the  United  States  is  some- 
thing entirely  unique,  and  the  negro  churches  are  its 
peculiar  product.  As  elsewhere,  the  Columbia  negro 
churches  are  primarily  so  many  social  centers  around 
which  the  life  of  given  groups  revolve.  Here,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  baptisms,  weddings,  and  funerals  furnished 
by  the  natural  course  of  events,  are  given  concerts,  sup- 
pers, fairs,  literary  exercises  and  other  celebrations. 
Here  societies,  beneficial  and  otherwise,  find  congenial 
soil  and  atmosphere.  Even  the  Sunday  services,  especi- 
ally at  night,  frequently  partake  more  of  the  nature  of  a 
social  entertainment  than  of  an  earnest  and  devout  at- 
tempt to  worship  God.  The  congregations  are,  as  a 
rule,  well  behaved  and  well  dressed,  but  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  stirring  about  and  suppressed  excitement,  and 
often  considerable  noise.  The  observer  can  plainly  see 
two  distinct  elements  engaged  in  a  kind  of  struggle  for 
supremacy,  the  old-time  and  fast  disappearing  " darky" 
with  his  "hallelujah  religion"  of  genuine  even  though 
hysterical  emotion,  and  the  more  "proper"  younger 
generation  with  its  efforts  to  imitate  the  perfunctory 
and  sterotyped  services  of  the  white  churches.  The  lat- 
ter element  will,  of  course,  prevail. 

The  ordinary  service  consists  of  a  great  deal  of 
music  and  singing  after  their  kind,  and  a  great  deal  of 
preaching  after  its  kind.  It  is  a  pity  that  it  cannot 
truthfully  be  said  that  the  intelligent  negro  gets  any 
real  help  from  the  pulpit  efforts  of  his  pastor.  The 
preacher,  as  a  rule,  does  little  more  than  point  out  and 
urge,  at  the  expense  of  much  physical  energy,  certain 
well-known  moral  precepts.  ' '  Do  right  and  you  will  go 
to  heaven,"  is  the  burden  of  his  message.  Of  course, 
if  he  himself  should  live  up  to  this  ideal  and  could  get 
his  people  to  follow,  a  vast  deal  of  good  would  be  ac- 


Religious  Life  37 

complished.  But,  alas,  in  this  also  the  negro  is  much 
like  his  white  brother.  The  offertory  is  a  feature  never 
neglected  and  always  emphasized.  In  fact,  this  part  of 
the  exercises  not  infrequently  becomes  the  piece  de 
resistance  of  the  occasion.  Taken  all  in  all,  there  is 
very  little  in  the  service  that  bears  directly  upon  the 
lives  of  an  humble,  ignorant  and  helpless  people.  Im- 
morality of  conduct  and  a  very  devout  spirit  still  go 
hand  in  hand.  Theft,  drunkenness  and  lewdness  are 
looked  upon  by  the  great  majority  as  leniently  as  ever. 
Nor  are  they,  on  that  account,  chargeable  with  hypoc- 
risy. The  simple  explanation  is  that  a  long  and  dark 
heredity  has  made  it  almost  impossible  for  them  rightly 
to  adjust  the  relation  between  morality  and  religion. 
Superstition,  especially  a  belief  in  witchcraft,  as  infan- 
tile as  it  is  gross,  still  burdens  their  minds  and  hearts. 
At  this  writing  the  family  cook  is  regaling  her  mistress 
with  a  recent  terrible  experience  with  a  "hant."  And 
this  woman  is  young,  above  the  average  in  intelligence, 
a  devout  church-member  and  a  competent  servant,  long 
accustomed  to  intercourse  with  the  best  white  families. 


CHAPTER  VI 


EDUCATION 


Although  the  Statutes  of  Missouri  were  never  dis- 
graced by  legislation  directly  prohibiting  the  education 
of  the  slaves  within  her  borders,  the  slave-holding  por- 
tion of  her  people  seem  to  have  felt,  with  the  same  class 
all  over  the  South,  that  the  mental  improvement  of  the 
slaves  meant  their  dissatisfaction  and  possible  insurrec- 
tion and  rebellion.  The  submission  of  the  man  with  the 
dark  skin  was  best  secured  by  keeping  his  mind  dark. 
Hence,  persons  of  African  descent,  either  free  or  slaves, 
who  could  read  or  write,  were  always  striking  exceptions 
to  the  prevailing  illiteracy  and  mental  stupor.  Occasion- 
ally, as  in  an  instance  or  two  in  Columbia,  the  anomal- 
ous situation  was  presented  in  which  children  of  well- 
to-do  and  refined  families  received  their  earliest  instruc- 
tion from  an  intelligent  house-servant,  sometimes  a 
hired  man  or  woman,  sometimes  a  slave. 

Immediately  after  the  cataclysm  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  hand  in  hand  with  the  efforts  at  political  reconstruc- 
tion, inroads  upon  the  negro's  centuries  of  ignorance 
began  to  be  made  by  many  more  or  less  self-appointed 
educational  missionaries  from  the  North,  as  well  as  by 
the  National  Government  through  the  Freedmen's  Bu- 
reau. But  the  efforts  were  usually  ill-advised,  and  the 
result  was  an  almost  irreparable  injury  to  the  race. 
Happily  for  the  negroes  of  Columbia,  their  mental  im- 
provement was  left  entirely  to  their  own  care  and  that 
of  those  who  understood  them  best— the  white  people 
of  their  own  immediate  neighborhood,  their  former 
masters. 

The  new  Drake  Constitution,  a  Republican  instru- 
ment adopted  in  1865,  contained  the  (for  Missouri)  ex- 
traordinary provision  that  "separate  schools  may  be 

(38) 


Education  39 

established  for  children  of  African  descent.  All  funds 
provided  for  the  support  of  public  schools  shall  be  ap- 
propriated in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children,  with- 
out regard  to  color. ' '  This  provision  was,  of  course,  ex- 
traordinary, not  because  there  might  be  separate  schools 
for  the  negroes,  but  because  there  might  be  schools  for 
them  at  all. 

Acting  under  the  authority  of  this  constitutional 
provision,  a  succeeding  Democratic  Assembly  declared 
that  "The  board  of  education  of  any  city,  town  or  vil- 
lage, is  hereby  required  to  provide  separate  schools  for 
such  colored  children  as  may  reside  within  the  limits  of 
said  city,  town,  or  village. ' '  A  further  indication  of  the 
real  state  of  public  opinion  on  the  question  of  separate 
schools  for  the  races  is  given  by  the  Democratic  Consti- 
tution of  1875,  which  ordains  that ' '  separate  free  public 
schools  shall  be  established  for  the  education  of  children 
of  African  descent.' '  The  Assembly  of  1889  ordered 
the  establishment  of  such  separate  schools  whenever 
there  should  be  in  any  school  district  fifteen  or  more  ne- 
gro children  of  school  age,  such  schools  to  be  the  same  in 
conduct,  management,  control,  advantages  and  priv- 
ileges as  for  the  white  schools  of  corresponding  grade. 
This  Assembly  also  made  it  unlawful  for  a  negro  child 
to  attend  a  white  school  or  for  a  white  child  to  attend 
a  negro  school.  A  subsequent  Legislature  made  provis- 
ion for  combining  contiguous  school  districts  in  which 
the  number  of  children  of  school  age  was  less  than 
fifteen  in  each. 

But  in  Columbia  the  education  of  the  freedmen  did 
not  await  the  putting  in  motion  of  tardy  and  cumbrous 
government  machinery.  The  high  honor  of  recognizing 
and  promptly  acting  upon  the  conviction,  that  the  wel- 
fare of  their  race  demanded  the  education  of  the  chil- 
dren, belongs  to  four  negro  men,  Gilbert  Akers,  John 
Lang,  Louis  Fisher,  and  Beverly  Chapman.  It  was 
mainly  through  the  efforts  of  these  men,  the  former  two 


40  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

always  free  negroes,  the  latter  one-time  slaves,  that  the 
negroes  themselves,  aided  by  their  white  friends,  raised 
a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  erect  the  shell  of  a  two- 
storied  house  as  a  school  for  negro  children,  on  a  lot 
(No.  309  of  the  town  of  Columbia)  deeded  for  church 
and  educational  purposes  by  Gilbert  Akers  and  wife  for 
a  nominal  sum.  Later,  in  1868,  the  Freedmen's  Bu- 
reau at  Washington  appropriated  $800.00  in  aid  of  the 
enterprise.  But  for  this  money  to  become  available  it 
was  necessary  that  the  school  property  be  placed  under 
the  control  of  a  separate  board,  to  be  held  ' '  in  trust  for 
school  purposes  for  the  sole  and  exclusive  use  and  ben- 
efit of  the  colored  people  of  said  township. ' '  This  was 
accordingly  done,  Gilbert  Akers  and  wife  formally  con- 
senting. Thus  was  launched  the  first  negro  school  in 
Columbia,  in  Boone  county  and  probably  in  central  Mis- 
souri. It  began  its  career  with  sixty  pupils  and  two 
teachers,  and  was  named,  in  honor  of  Chas.  E.  Cum- 
mings,  its  first  principal  and  a  negro  of  education  and 
integrity,  "Cummings  Academy." 

Soon  afterward,  as  early  as  1872,  this  "Academy" 
became  a  part  of  the  public  school  system  of  Columbia 
township,  and  since  that  time  has  shared  the  varying 
fortunes  of  that  system.  In  —  the  original  ' '  Cummings 
Academy"  was  destroyed  by  fire.  In  1885  the  board  of 
education  replaced  it, -on  another  lot,  with  the  present 
substantial  brick  structure,  issuing  for  the  purpose,  upon 
a  practically  unanimous  vote  of  the  district,  $5,000.00 
worth  of  6  per  cent,  bonds.  The  new  structure  was 
called  "The  Frederick  Douglass  School,"  in  honor  of 
the  distinguished  negro  of  that  name. 

This  building,  reproduced  on  another  page,  is  a  two- 
storied  brick  structure,  containing  eight  spacious  rooms. 
It  has  a  convenient  seating  capacity  for  400  pupils  and 
seems  amply  large  enough  for  present  demands.  The 
rooms  are  well  lighted,  and  are  heated  by  steam;  but 
they  are  kept  none  too  clean.    Hat  and  cloak  rooms 


COLORED   BAPTIST  CHURCH,   COLUMBIA. 


ITU'.D  DOUGLASS   SCHOOL   FOR   COI.OHKD  CIHI.DItKX. 


Education 


41 


seem  to  be  entirely  wanting.  The  exterior  of  the  build- 
ing is  bare  and  dingy,  and  the  grounds  innocent  of  all 
improvements. 

Statistics  to  assist  in  tracing  the  progress  of  negro 
education  in  Columbia  are  almost  entirely  lacking.  Here 
as  elsewhere  in  the  slave-holding  communities  it  took 
the  authorities  a  long  time  to  appreciate  the  fact  that,  no 
longer  chattels  to  be  valued  at  so  many  dollars  per  head, 
the  negroes  were  still  worth  counting,  except,  indeed,  for 
political  purposes.  But  the  following  table  throws  at 
least  some  light  into  the  darkness.  It  contains,  as  far 
as  authentic  figures  can  be  found,  the  enumeration  of 
negro  children  of  school-age  (6  to  20  years)  in  the  school 
district  from  year  to  year  since  1867 ;  the  number  actu- 
ally enrolled  at  school  each  year  since  that  date ;  the  per- 
centage of  enumerated  actually  enrolled ;  as  well  as  other 
interesting  data : 


Negro  School  Statistics  of  Columbia  Since  1867. 


Year. 

Enu 

Enr 

Per  ct  of 

Enumer. 

No. 

T'8. 

Average 
Salary. 

School 
Term 

1867-8 

373 

63 

16.09 

2 

1881-2 

470 

264 

56.17 

1887-8 

562 

364 

64.77 

1890-1 

7 

40.00 

160 

1891-2 

630 

7 

40.00 

180 

1892-3 

681 

7 

40.00 

180 

1893-4 

681 

456 

66.96 

7 

40.00 

180 

1894-5 

581 

408 

69.07 

7 

40.00 

180 

1895-6 

699 

420 

60.08 

7 

40.00 

180 

1896-7 

768 

8 

40.62 

180 

1897-8 

746 

411 

59.09 

8 

40.62 

180 

1898-9 

808 

395 

48.55 

8 

40.62 

180 

1899-0 

797 

387 

48.55 

8 

40.62 

180 

1900-1 

829 

358 

43.18 

8 

40.62 

180 

1901-2 

763 

378 

49.54 

8 

43.12 

180 

1902-3 

758 

417 

55.00 

8 

43.12 

180 

42  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

These  figures  are  both  encouraging  and  discourag- 
ing. It  is  significant  of  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
emancipated  slave  invaded  the  Promised  Land  of  learn- 
ing that  almost  immediately  upon  the  opening  of ' '  Cum- 
mings  Academy, ' '  its  capacity  was  severely  taxed.  And 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  for  nearly  an  entire  genera- 
tion, up  to  1895,  or  during  the  influence  of  those  who 
had  come  directly  under  the  sway  of  the  surpassing  joys 
and  hopes  of  emancipation,  the  high-tide  of  desire  for 
an  education  was  steadily  maintained.  As  late  as  the 
school-year  of  1894-5  as  many  as  69.07  per  cent,  of  the 
enumerated  children  between  6  and  20  years  of  age 
were  attending  school.  But  during  the  succeeding  year 
the  percentage  dropped  to  60.08 ;  in  1898-9  it  was  48.88, 
and  in  1900-1  it  went  down  to  43.18.  In  1901-2  there 
a  slight  increase,  and  a  still  further  one  in  1902-3.  It 
must  be  added  that  this  decrease  in  attendance  can,  in 
part,  be  accounted  for  by  local  conditions,  such  as  bitter 
opposition  to  the  school's  principal  by  a  part  of  the 
negro  population. 

These  are  the  discouraging  figures.  They  seem  to 
indicate  that  the  present  generation  of  Columbia 
negroes  cares  less  for  the  benefits  of  education  than  the 
the  one  immediately  preceding  and  coming  up  from 
slavery.  It  is  not  easy  to  suggest  an  explanation.  The 
decline  in  attendance  began  upon  the  heels  of  the  finan- 
cial panic  of  1893-4.  Perhaps,  the  pressure  for  existence 
having  become  heavier,  it  was  found  impossible  to  keep 
the  children  at  school  as  long  as  formerly.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  only  an  insignificant  percentage  of  the  378  en- 
rolled in  1901-2  were  over  15  years  old.  Perhaps  (and 
this  would  be  the  sadder),  the  race  is  losing  heart,  has 
given  up  hope  of  betterment,  is  becoming  indifferent  to 
the  advantages  of  an  education,  and  is  content  to  let  the 
coming  generation  shift  for  itself  as  best  it  can  with- 
out it. 


Education  43 

There  may  be  still  another  explanation.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  a  kind  of  sifting  process  is  going  on  within 
the  race  which  is  separating  the  chaff  from  the  wheat. 
The  former,  having  lost  the  impetus  of  hope  imparted 
by  freedom  and  equality,  is  sinking  back  into  confirmed 
ignorance  and  its  concomitant  conditions ;  the  latter,  rep- 
resenting what  is  best  in  negro  blood,  is  persevering  to- 
ward the  goal  set  for  itself  when  freedom  first  beckoned 
to  achievement. 

But  we  must  note,  on  the  other  hand,  the  steadily 
increasing  efficiency  of  the  school  itself.  While  the 
negro  patrons  seem  to  be  becoming  somewhat  indiffer- 
ent to  the  value  of  an  education,  their  white  guardians 
are  steadily,  if  slowly,  increasing  their  opportunities  to 
equip  themselves  for  life's  struggles,  and  this  in  the  face 
of  the  fact  that  the  negroes  pay  practically  nothing  to- 
ward the  task  in  the  way  of  taxes,  only  about  $700.00 
out  of  a  total  of  $18,000.00,  and  seem,  in  addition,  quite 
indifferent  to  the  efforts  to  improve  their  conditions  in 
this  respect. 

The  Fred  Douglass  school-building  is  as  good  as 
many  and  better  than  some  buildings  for  the  use  of 
white  children  in  communities  no  smaller  than  Colum- 
bia. The  teachers  are  usually  the  best  that  can  be  had 
for  the  salaries  offered. 

The  curriculum  of  studies,  embracing  seven  grades 
is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  that  of  the  white  schools. 

The  school  is  not,  of  course,  in  articulation  with  the 
local  white  high  school,  but  has  a  high-school  depart- 
ment of  its  own,  in  which  pupils  are  carried  as  far  as 
the  end  of  the  second  year's  course  in  the  white  school, 
and  its  certificates  are  accepted  by  the  Lincoln  Institute, 
the  State 's  normal  school  for  negroes,  at  Jefferson  City, 
Missouri;  by  Smith  College,  at  Sedalia,  Missouri,  and 
by  the  Western  College,  at  Macon,  Missouri ;  both  negro 
institutions.  During  the  session  of  1902-3  Lincoln  Insti- 


44  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

tute  had  ten  graduates  of  the  Douglass  School ;  Smitk 
College  had  one ;  the  Western  College,  two.  This  show- 
ing does  not  reveal  a  very  passionate  craving  for 
"higher  education"  on  the  part  of  Columbia's  negro 
youth.  The  fact  that  there  were  ten  graduates  (seven 
women  and  three  men)  at  Lincoln  Institute,  where  nor- 
mal, industrial,  and  agricultural  training  receive  em- 
phasis, is,  however,  a  wholesome  feature  of  an  otherwise 
discouraging  situation. 


CHAPTER  VII 


HEALTH   AND    MORALS 


The  negro 's  vitality,  his  ability  to  resist  the  rigors 
of  climate  and  the  inroads  of  disease,  satisfy  the  inex- 
orable law  of  labor,  and  propagate  his  kind  is,  for  the 
race  itself,  the  most  important  phase  of  the  problem  we 
are  considering. 

The  evidence  furnished  by  the  United  States  census 
seems  incontrovertibly  to  show  that  the  negro  has  much 
less  power  of  resistance  in  the  struggle  for  life  than  his 
Caucasian  competitor.  This  holds  true  both  North  and- 
South,  and  from  Maine  to  Florida.  The  statistics  upon 
which  this  conclusion  is  based  have  usually  been  gath- 
ered in  the  larger  cities,  the  congested  centers  of  popula- 
tion where  the  death-rate,  for  obvious  seasons,  is  higher 
than  elsewhere.  But  approximately  the  same  results 
are  obtained  by  the  investigations  in  Columbia.  In  the 
United  States  the  average  age  at  death,  for  whites  is 
35.8  years,  for  colored  (which  includes  a  negligible  num- 
ber of  Chinese,  etc.),  it  is  28.0  years.  The  following 
table  is  of  great  interest : 


(45) 


46 


The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 


Death    Rate    foe    Certain    Causes,  by    Race,  U.  S. 
Census,  1900. 


Causes. 

White. 

Negro. 

Cancer  and  Tumor 

66.7 

173.5 

129.5 

45.9 

137.4 

23.6 

22.8 

6.5 

13.1 

213.7 

53.5 

184.8 

12.0 

32.4 

99.8 

48.0 

485.4 

214.0 

32.0 

221.1 

32.0 

20.9 

63.2 

15.2 

308.0 

66.7 

355.3 

2.6 

67.5 

157.3 

Diphtheria 

Heart  Disease  and  Dropsy. . 
Liver,  diseases  of 

Nervous  System,  diseases  of 
Old  Age 

Scarlet  Fever 

Urinary  Organs,  diseases  of 

The  noticeable  feature  of  this  table  is  the  tremen- 
dously high  rate  for  the  negroes  shown  for  the  more  or 
less  constitutional  diseases  like  consumption,  pneu- 
monia, and  heart  and  nervous  diseases. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  was  found  impossible  to 
treat  this  important  phase  of  the  subject  with  the  fullness 
of  detail  it  deserves  and  demands.  But  in  Columbia,  as 
in  other  small  communities,  vital  statistics  are  un- 
known quantities.  There  is  not  even  such  a  simple  pro- 
cess as  the  recording  of  births  and  deaths.*  Hence,  the 
meagerness  of  the  following  figures  and  the  vagueness 
of  the  generalizations. 

During  the  year  closing  with  October,  1901,  there 
were  no  less  than  48  deaths  among  the  negroes  of  Co- 
lumbia, giving  a  death-rate  of  24  per  1,000.     Thirty- 


*The  next  Missouri  legislature  ought  to  remedy  this  serious  obstacle  to 
all  kinds  of  sociological  investigations. 


Health  and  Morals  47 

four  of  them  were  of  adults  and  14  of  children.  They 
were  due  to  at  least  20  causes.  We  give  them  in  detail 
for  what  they  are  worth  as  information:  accidents  4, 
bronchitis  3,  croup  1,  childbirth  1,  cancer  1,  cholera  in- 
fantum 1,  gangrene  of  lungs  1,  la  grippe  1,  measles  1, 
senile  debility  2,  pneumonia  5,  rheumatism  2,  scarlet 
fever  1,  spasms  1,  inflammation  of  stomach  1,  tonsilitis 
1,  tuberculosis  5,  tumor  1,  typhoid  6,  whooping-cough  2, 
unknown  (infants)  7. 

A  further  interesting  but  limited  collection  of  data 
was  furnished  by  Columbia's  only  negro  physican,  Dr. 
Perry,  a  man  of  education  and  ability  in  his  profession. 
From  January  1  to  April  1,  1902,  a  most  trying  season 
of  the  year,  Dr.  Perry  had  under  treatment  the  follow- 
ing 103  cases  of  diseases:  asthma  1,  aneurism  1,  bron- 
chitis 1,  convulsion  1,  chronic  gastritis  1,  eczema  3,  fe- 
male diseases  15,  general  dibility  8,  heart  disease  3,  in- 
sanity 1,  la  grippe  6,  pneumonia  11,  rheumatism  6, 
smallpox  11,  scarlet  fever  5,  sexual  diseases  14,  tonsilitis 
5,  tuberculosis  11. 

The  notable  things  about  these  two  lists  are,  first, 
the  large  number  ill  with  and  dying  from  lung  troubles, 
pneumonia  and  tuberculosis;  second,  the  large  number 
under  treatment  for  sexual  diseases,  chiefly  gonorrhoea. 

The  explanations  of  the  high  death-rate  among  Co- 
lumbia negroes  lie  upon  the  surface.  A  large  propor- 
tion of  them,  particularly  children,  do  not  receive  ad- 
equate medical  attention  in  illness.  If  the  fact  shown 
above,  that  14  of  the  48  deaths  in  1901  were  of  children, 
and  the  additional  fact  that  at  the  same  time  only  161 
children  over  6  years  of  age  could  be  found,  have  any 
significance,  then  either  the  infant  mortality  must  be 
frightful,  or  there  must  be  a  still  more  hideous  explana- 
tion. The  high  mortality  is  due,  often,  to  ignorance,  to 
the  prohibitive  cost  of  professional  aid,  and  to  positive 
criminal  neglect  on  the  part  of  parents.     The  sanitary 


48  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

conditions  prevailing  in  the  sections  by  rigid  caste  selec- 
tion set  aside  for  negro  residents  are  simply  appalling. 
The  houses  are,  as  a  rule,  one,  two,  or  three-room 
"shacks"  into  which  large  families  are  indiscriminately 
crowded.  Water  for  all  purposes  is  generally  drawn 
from  unwholesome  wells  or  cisterns.  Garbage,  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  is  thrown  into  the  yard  to  the  chickens 
and  hogs,  or  left  there  to  decay  and  breed  its  disease, 
dispensing  germs  in  air  and  water  and  soil.  This  was 
the  actual  condition  of  things  in  73  out  of  132  houses 
inspected.  The  interiors  were  little  if  any  better.  Out 
of  208  examined,  57  had  to  be  classed  as  "bad,"  fre- 
quently "very  bad;"  60  as  "fair;"  and  only  91  as 
"good."  It  is  a  perfectly  fair  statement  that  50  per 
cent,  of  the  negro  houses  of  Columbia  are  in  every  way 
unfit  to  be  classed  as  < '  houses ' '  at  all.  A  very  few  com- 
pare favorably  with  the  houses  of  well-to-do  whites. 
The  two  extremes  are  illustrated  on  another  page. 

It  must  be  added  that,  simply  as  places  put  up  for 
human  habitations,  a  large  proportion  of  these  houses 
ought  to  be  condemned  and  torn  down.  Certainly,  a 
heavy  weight  of  responsibility  rests  here  upon  some 
property  owners,  either  too  thoughtless  or  too  greedy  to 
make  even  the  most  needful  repairs.  The  houses  are 
often  so  poorly  constructed  that  they  keep  out  neither 
summer  rains  nor  winter  snows.  Floors  are  frequently 
on  the  ground,  and  ceilings  low.  City  water  is  only 
occasionally  found.  There  is  neither  plumbing  nor 
drainage.  Bath-rooms  are  practically  unknown.  The 
city  sewer  is  easily  within  reach,  but  it  is  folly  to  expect 
owners  to  make  costly  connections  when  the  houses  are 
only  worth  from  $50.00  to  $150.00!  Noxious  vermin 
abound  and  little  effort  is  made  to  exterminate  them. 
The  results  of  all  this  upon  the  health  of  the  occupants 
can  easily  be  imagined. 

Why  do  not  these  people  refuse  to  live  in  such 


.  IS 

It!'''-*- 

i                                                                                            W 

rasp-  ^''^^^   ;    ~  *  **ia^ , 

ONE  OF  THE   BEST  NEGRO   HOMES   IN   COLUMBIA. 


ONE  OF  TIIK  WOltST   NEGRO  IIOMFN  IN"  COLUMBIA. 


Health  and  Morals 


49 


quarters?  The  question  betrays  the  ignorance  of  him 
who  asks  it.  Many  of  these  people  have  no  desire  to 
leave  their  wretched  houses,  and  many  of  them  could 
not  if  they  would.  Their  incomes  make  better  accom- 
modations impossible. 

A  glance  at  the  following  comprehensive  table  of 
housing  conditions  among  the  Columbia  negroes  will 
reveal  a  frightfully  typical  state  of  affairs : 

Housing  Conditions  Among  Columbia  Negroes. 


Rooms 
Occupied 

Number  in  Family. 

Fam's. 

Ind'ls. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

1 

2 

4 

4 

3 

1 

3 

3 

20 

78 

2 

i 

23 

22 

17 

17 

16 

3 

3 

2 

1 

V 

1 

109 

438 

3 

6 

17 

19 

22 

L9 

17 

8 

6 

3 

2 

2 

121 

540 

4 

1 

6 

10 

12 

7 

1 

7 

2 

5 

51 

236 

5 

3 

3 

2 

1 

9 

41 

6 

1 

1 

•  > 

5 

30 

? 

1 

1 

2 

7 

8 

9 

10 

1 

1 

4 

Totals 

318 

J, 374 

Three  hundred  and  eighteen  families  are  included 
in  this  table.  They  sum  up  1,374  individuals.  Of  this 
total  number  of  families  186  were  renters  and  132  owned 
the  places  which  they  called  ' '  home. ' '  Under  what  con- 
ditions are  they  housed?  The  table  reveals  that 
20  families,  with  78  individuals,  an  average  of  4  to  the 
family,  occupy,  each,  1  room ;  1,09  families,  with  438  in- 
dividuals, occupy,  each,  2  rooms,  or  2  persons  to  a  room ; 
but  one  of  these  families  has  12  members,  or  6  persons 
to  a  room ;  another  has  10  members,  or  5  persons  to  a 
room;  two  others  have  9  members;  three  have  8;  and 


50  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

three  7.  121  families,  with  540  individuals,  occupy, 
each,  3  rooms,  or  about  one  and  a  half  persons  to  a 
room ;  but  two  of  these  families  have  11  members ;  two 
have  19 ;  three  have  9 ;  and  six  have  8.  Fifty-one  famil- 
ies, with  236  individuals,  occupy,  each,  4  rooms,  or  about 
1  for  each  room ;  but  five  of  these  families  have  9  mem- 
bers ;  two  have  8 ;  and  seven  have  7.  Nine  families,  with 
41  individuals,  occupy,  each,  5  rooms,  or  1  to  a  room; 
but  one  of  these  families  has  ten  members. 

Only  those  who  have  thoughtfully  explored  these 
habitations  can  begin  to  conceive  the  pitiful,  tragic  and 
inevitable  results  of  this  close  herding  together  of  men, 
women  and  children,  not  only  members  of  families,  but 
even  boarders,  often  into  a  single  room  under  circum- 
stances where  modesty  must  be  forever  a  stranger  and 
in  which  vice  ensues  as  certainly  as  physical  disease 
grows  out  of  the  noxious  hygienic  situations.  What 
kind  of  traditions,  sentiments  and  affections  about  the 
home  and  family  can  develop  under  such  conditions,  in 
such  an  atmosphere?  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  mono- 
gamic  family  with  its  chivalrous  treatment 'of  woman 
and  parental  responsibility,  does  not  appeal  to  the  aver- 
age negro  ?  One  result  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  although 
the  negro  population  of  Boone  county  is  less  than 
one-fifth  that  of  the  whites,  it  furnishes  almost  exactly 
as  many  actual  divorces,  or,  in  proportion  to  the  popu- 
lation, approximately  500  per  cent  more  than  the  whites ! 
From  1898  to  1902,  inclusive,  117  divorces  were  granted 
by  the  Boone  County  Circuit  Court,  of  which  56  were  to 
negroes,  55  to  whites  and  6  unascertainable.  Said  a 
member  of  the  race  and  an  earnest  worker  for  its  better- 
ment :  ' '  What  can  one  do  for  people  who  insist  on  liv- 
ing ten  in  a  room,  and  two  of  them  just  married?" 
What,  indeed? 

And  now,  what  do  those  who  rent  pay  for  their 
wretched  accommodations?  The  figures  are  tabulated 
below  and  speak  for  themselves : 


Health  and  Morals  51 

Table  of  Rents  Paid  by  Columbia  Negroes. 


Rent 

per 

month. 

No. 

of  Rooms  Occupied. 

Total 

Fami- 
lies 

Total. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

1.00 

1 

1 

$  1.00 

2.00 

3 

2 

1 

6 

12.00 

3.00 

6 

6 

5 

17 

51.00 

4.00 

1 

23 

11 

2 

1 

43 

172.00 

5.00 

3 

45 

22 

4 

2 

76 

380.00 

6.00 

5 

18 

6 

29 

174.00 

7.00 

5 

2 

1 

8 

56.00 

8.00 

4 

4 

32.00 

9.00 

10.00 

1 

2 

3 

30.00 

13 

87 

65 

15 

6 

186 

$908.00 

Total  rent  paid,  per  month,  $908.00 ;  per  year,  $10,- 
896.  Total  number  of  families  included  in  table,  186. 
Average  rent  per  family  per  month,  $5.81;  per  year, 
$69.72. 

But  after  all  that  can  be  said  about  the  hygienic  and 
sanitary  conditions  existing  among  the  negroes  and  op- 
erating as  causes  for  the  high  death  rate  among  them,  it 
remains  to  be  stated  that  the  most  potent  cause  of  all  is 
the  negro's  constitutional  weakness  and  defect. 
Whether  such  weakness  and  defect  be  an  inheritance 
from  his  forebears  in  Africa,  or  a  result  of  climate,  or 
of  debauchery  and  vice  since  his  transplantation  to 
America,  the  fact  of  its  existence  seems  to  be  unques- 
tioned. In  Columbia  almost  the  entire  negro  popula- 
tion is  more  or  less  tainted  by  syphilitic  poisoning  and  is 
on  that  account,  peculiarly  liable  to  tubercular  diseases. 
Pneumonia  and  consumption  are  the  negro's  most 
dreaded  scourges. 


52  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

Whether  or  not  the  ravages  of  disease  can  be  stop- 
ped at  this  late  day,  is  an  open  question.  The  radical 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  effectual  remedy  is  the  stubborn 
fact  that  the  causes  of  the  excessive  mortality  lie  not 
merely  in  the  conditions  of  life  as  they  now  obtain,  but 
in  race  traits  and  tendencies  also.  And  these  traits  and 
tendencies  have  been  emphasized  by  generations  of  vic- 
ious practices,  and  to-day  bad  whiskey,  cocaine,  unsani- 
tary surroundings,  and  sexual  immorality  continue  the 
sad  work  of  debilitation.  Signs  of  recuperation  are  not 
perceptible.  In  Columbia  improvement  in  housing  con- 
ditions, the  observance  of  the  simplest  rules  of  sanita- 
tion, at  least  a  relative  moral  reformation  through  the 
establishment  of  something  like  a  true  home  life,  must 
precede  any  possible  improvement  in  the  negro 's  ability 
to  resist  disease.  Under  present  conditions  the  possi- 
bility of  materially  lessening  the  death-rate  is  very  re- 
mote indeed. 

That  the  birth  rate  among  negroes  is  in  excess  of 
that  among  the  whites  is  a  fact  usually  assumed  but  not 
always  borne  out  by  the  figures.  Where  statistics  have 
been  gathered  in  the  Northern  States  they  usually  give 
an  excessive  mortality  with  a  very  low  birth-rate,  reveal- 
ing the  fact  that  the  race  is  not  self-sustaining  in  those 
latitudes.*  In  harmony  with  these  results  it  was  found 
that  only  34  negro  children  were  born  in  Columbia  in 
1901,  giving  a  birth-rate  of  17  +  per  thousand,  against  a 
death-rate  of  24  +.  But  the  birth-rate  would  always  be 
much  higher  if  nature's  process  were  not  so  generally 
interfered  with.  Among  the  negroes,  as  among  the 
whites,  also,  the  birth-rate  is  inextricably  involved  with 
their  morals,  and  statistics  are  altogether  unreliable  as 
indices  of  their  ability  to  hold  their  own  numerically. 
Birth-rate  statistics  of  negroes  in  Columbia  simply  show 
how  many  children,  legitimate  or  otherwise,  the  mothers 


•Hoffman,  Race  Traits  and  Tendencies  of  the  American  Negro,  ch.  II. 


Health  and  Morals  53 

have  seen  fit  to  allow  to  be  born.  Thus,  the  fact  that  only 
161  children  under  6  years  of  age  could  be  found  at  a 
given  date,  and  the  further  fact  that  there  were  not  less 
than  60  couples  living  together  as  husbands  and  wives, 
who  were  childless,  does  not  necessarily  mean  a  nat- 
urally low  birth-rate,  or  a  high  infant  mortality,  These 
figures  are  much  more  eloquent  of  a  more  frightful  fact, 
that  of  deliberate  pre-natal  murder.  Eeliable  local  med- 
ical authority  informs  the  writer  that  ''dozens"  of  un- 
born children  are  disposed  of  every  year,  either  by  the 
mothers  directly  or  by  the  aid  of  medical  quacks  for  a 
trifling  fee. 

The  negroes  are  still  controlled  by  animal  impulses. 
One  of  the  things  which  distinguishes  them,  as  a  race, 
from  the  Caucasians,  is  their  "sensual  concretism. "* 
Physical  stimulation  is  their  chief  craving  and  highest 
enjoyment.  Their  inclinations  in  any  direction  are  seldom 
checked  by  reason.  In  the  case  of  nature 's  most  potent 
instinct  of  sex,  a  scarcely  appreciable  proportion  of  the 
race  ever  makes  any  effort  whatever  to  keep  it  within 
due  metes  and  bounds.  Sadly  deficient  morally  as 
slaves,  they  are  even  more  imperfect  to-day.  Hence, 
the  relations  existing  between  the  sexes  are  exceedingly 
lax.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we  seem  to  have,  in  Columbia, 
a  perilous  approach  to  that  state  of  promiscuity  postu- 
lated by  a  certain  school  of  anthropologists  as  man's 
most  primitive  sexual  condition.  The  whites  usually 
assume  it  as  a  common-place  that  all  negro  women  have 
a  price.  But  it  can  not  be  too  emphatically  said  that 
this  is  certainly  too  sweeping  and  does  a  grievous  injus- 
tice to  the  worthy  few.  Repeated  inquiries  of  members 
of  the  race  itself  both  men  and  women,  elicited  the  opin- 
ion that  at  least  85  or  90  per  cent  of  the  women  were  un- 
chaste. Though  this  estimate  may  be  too  high,  yet 
the     pitiful     thing     is     that     the     impropriety     and 


•Schultze,   Psychologic  der  Xniiirvolkcr.  p.  38. 


54  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

depravity  of  sexual  immorality  is  only  dimly  appreci- 
ated even  by  the  few  virtuous  ones.  A  part  of  the 
responsibility  for  this  state  of  things  can  not,  of  course, 
be  evaded  by  the  whites.  Too  little  is  done  by  them  to 
make  the  negro  better  in  this  respect. 

In  Columbia  as,  unfortunately,  everywhere  else,  lax 
sexual  relations  exist  not  only  among  negro  men  and 
women,  but  also  (and  of  more  importance,  because  of 
its  results  upon  the  races)  between  white  men  and  negro 
women,  especially  mulattoes.  The  condition  is  locally 
doubtless  accentuated  by  the  presence  of  an  unusually 
large  number  of  males.  But  whatever  its  cause,  the 
condition  exists,  and  a  visit  to  the  Fred  Douglass  school, 
or  observation  of  any  large  gathering  of  negro  children, 
will  vividly  reveal  by  the  surprising  number  of  mulat- 
toes, quadroons  and  octoroons,the  results  of  what  is  con- 
stantly going  on  but  what  everybody  is  quite  willing  to 
ignore  or  forget— race  amalgamation!  In  Columbia 
it  is  going  on  steadily,  increasingly.  The  distinct  negro 
type,  dolichocephalic,  prognathous,  kinkyhaired,  and 
black,  is  gradually  disappearing,  and  the  mulatto,  and 
quadroon  types  are  steadily  becoming  more  evident. 
But,  unhappily,  already  weak  and  tainted,  the  accession 
of  new  blood  from  the  Caucasian  obtained  by  the 
negroes  through  this  inter-racial  concubinage  and  pros- 
titution is  not  always  the  most  desirable.  And  even  if 
it  were,  the  ultimate  result  would  still  be  doubtful. 
History  supplies  us  with  quite  a  number  of  reliable 
examples  of  badly  adjusted  race  amalgam.  Hybrids 
of  widely  differentiated  races  always  exhibit  the 
stigmata  of  physical,  mental  and  moral  deterioration, 
and  the  results  are  already  plainly  noticeable  in  Colum- 
bia, where  the  " hybrids"  and  their  descendants  are  an 
ever  accumulating  quantity  of  morbidity. 

The  conditions  of  the  situation,  the  copulation  of 
white  men  with  negro  women,  only  in  rarest  instances 


Health  and  Morals  55 

the  reverse,  admit  of  only  one  result— the  gradual  dis- 
appearance of  the  negro  as  a  negro.  That  is  precisely 
what  is  taking  place  in  Columbia. 

In  1867,  General  Pope,  in  charge  of  reconstruction 
in  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Florida,  expressed  the  con- 
viction that  the  negro's  progress  was  such  that,  if  con- 
tinued, "five  years  will  have  transferred  intelligence 
and  education,  so  far  as  the  masses  are  concerned,  to 
the  colored  people  of  this  district."  The  blind  parti- 
sanship of  that  day  may  easily  account  for  such  a  dis- 
torted view. 

But  in  1883  Prof.  C.  A.  Gardiner,  of  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  predicted  that  in  30  years  the  negroes  of  the  South 
would  be  superior  to  the  whites  in  numbers,  wealth, 
and  intelligence,  and  that  within  a  century  the  South- 
ern whites  would  be  completely  absorbed  by  the  negro. 
It  is  not  known  whether  the  professor  meant  to  be  taken 
literally  or  whether  he  was  perpetrating  a  sociological 
joke.  The  signs  then  and  now  all  go  to  show  that  there 
is  a  gradual  but  sure  infusion  of  white  blood  into  the 
black  race,  which  means,  unless  all  historic  examples 
fail,  the  sure  absorption  of  the  weaker  by  the  stronger, 
of  the  blacks  by  the  whites,  in  the  next  few  generations. 
This  will  give  us  a  solution  of  the  race  question  no  less 
radical  than  the  total  disappearance  of  the  negro  as  a 
negro.  It  seems  to  be  the  only  solution  which  the  con- 
ditions of  the  situation  will  admit.  Incidentally  it  may 
be  observed  just  here  that  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  would 
have  found  it  somewhat  difficult  to  square  his  theory  of 
a  race-preservation  instinct  with  the  facts  as  they  exist 
in  the  South  to-day. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


CRIME 


Anything  like  an  adequate  treatment  of  negro 
crime  in  Columbia  is  almost  an  impossibility  under  pres- 
ent conditions.  No  official  statistics  bearing  upon  the 
subject  are  kept,  much  less  published.  The  figures  here 
brought  together  were  slowly  and  painfully  gathered 
from  court  dockets  and  the  private  memoranda  of  the 
prosecuting  attorney,  in  consultation  with  that  official, 
the  city's  police  judge,  and  the  justices  of  the  peace.  As 
far  as  they  go  these  figures  are  reliable.  Unfortunately 
they  are  far  from  adequate.  Consisting  of  the  records 
for  a  brief  space  of  time,  they  only  show  the  status  of 
this  phase  of  the  problem  for  that  time.  But  in  order 
to  understand  their  full  significance  the  figures  for  the 
same  length  of  time  ten  years  earlier  should  be  placed 
side  by  side  with  them.     But  that  is  not  now  possible. 

However,  to  attempt  to  measure  crime  by  the  num- 
ber of  arrests  and  convictions  for  a  given  period  is,  to 
say  the  least,  a  very  unsatisfactory  proceeding.  Crime 
is  always  a  symptom  of  pathological  social  conditions 
that  lie  far  beyond  the  reach  of  policemen  and  courts 
and,  too  often,  further  still  beyond  their  comprehen- 
sion. Arrests  and  convictions  oftener  actually  make 
criminals  than  reform  them.  And  the  difficulty  is 
greatly  increased  whenever  and  wherever  the  negro  is 
concerned.  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the 
alertness,  efficiency,  and  conscientious  performance  of 
duty  by  the  blue-coated  representatives  of  the  law  are 
everywhere  somewhat  increased  when  the  offenders 
happen  to  have  black  skins.  Their  conviction  is  always 
also  much  more  certain.     This  is  due,  in  part,  to  the 

(56) 


Crime 


57 


inability  of  the  prisoners  to  secure  the  necessary  legal 
assistance,  and,  in  part,  to  the  sang  froid  with  which  the 
average  white  judge  and  jury  convict  the  negroes 
brought  before  them.  There  seems  to  exist  a  tacit  as- 
sumption that  if  the  prisoner  does  not  happen  to  be 
guilty  of  the  particular  crime  charged,  he  ought  to  be 
locked  up  anyhow  on  general  principles ! 

And  yet  the  number  of  arrests  for  a  given  period 
does,  in  a  crude  way,  measure  crime.  The  following 
tables  and  figures  throw  an  imperfect  light  upon  this 
phase  of  our  problem  in  Columbia. 

Convictions  in  City  Police  Court,  1901. 


1901 

O 

"< 
p 

3 
Vf 
9 

3 
P 

9 
m 

O 

[5 

»  21 

5" 

1*5 
r* 
P* 
a 

i 

i 

3 
9 
/. 
s. 

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9 
;= 
3 
* 

q 

> 

s 

i 

n 

e  9 

3  <2 

3  =. 
a 

00 

; 

> 
n. 

3 

r 

<1 

-4 
§ 

9 

3 
O 
4 

13 

9 

F 
p 
<t 

a 
a 

P 

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DO 

►a 

0 

I 

a? 
g 

o 

o 
« 
p 

? 

» 

o 

9 

0 

o 

»' 

i 

Whites.. 

Ill 

45 

25 

17 

5 

2 

5 

23 

233 

4.1 

6.1 

Negroes. 

37 

60 

40 

24 

24 

2 

5 

2 

3 

15 

218 

3.7 

11.6 

In  this  table  the  large  number  of  convictions  of 
whites  for  drunkenness  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  far  in  ex- 
cess proportionately,  of  the  number  of  negroes  convicted 
for  this  misdemeanor.  On  the  other  hand,  the  negro's 
characteristic  traits  appear  conspicuously  in  the  very 
high  proportion  of  convictions  he  furnishes  for  disturb- 
ing the  peace,  lewdness,  gaming,  assault.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  these  are  all  mild  reproductions  of  conspic- 
uous features  of  savage  characters.  While  there  are 
five  cases  of  vagrancy  against  the  whites  the  negroes 
seem  to  be  entirely  exempt.  But  this  conclusion  would 
be  a  serious  mistake.  Jail  and  workhouse  facilities 
would  be  totally  inadequate  if  the  police  would  make  ar- 


58  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

rests  among  the  negro  population  for  this  cause. 
Twenty-five  per  cent  of  them  would  be  regularly  behind 
the  bars !  Here  again  we  seem  to  have  the  evidence  of 
ancestral  heritage:  want  of  forethought,  inaptitude  for 
sustained  labor,  etc.* 

In  1902  there  were  430  convictions  in  this  court,  six- 
teen less  than  in  1901 ;  175  were  of  whites  and  255  of  ne- 
groes. We  know  of  no  explanation  for  the  very  marked 
decrease  for  the  whites  with  the  corresponding  increase 
for  the  negroes  over  the  figures  for  the  previous  year. 

In  the  courts  of  the  two  justices  of  the  peace  with 
jurisdiction  in  Columbia  township  (population,  1900, 
whites,  6,666 ;  negroes,  2,476;  a  total  of  9,142),  there 
were  146  convictions  in  1900,  92  of  whites  and  64  of  ne- 
groes, or  1.6  per  cent  of  the  total  population  for  the 
whites  and  0.7  per  cent  of  the  total  population  for  the 
negroes.  For  the  whites,  1.4  per  cent  of  the  white 
population,  and  for  the  negroes,  2.6  per  cent  of  the 
negro  population.  In  1902,  there  were  187  convictions, 
106  of  whites,  81  of  negroes,  or  for  the  whites,  1.1  per 
cent,  and  for  the  negroes,  0.8  per  cent,  of  the  total 
population  of  the  township.  For  the  whites,  1.6  per 
cent  of  the  white  population,  and  for  the  negroes,  3.3 
per  cent  of  the  negro  population.  The  negroes  fur- 
nished about  twice  as  much  crime  as  the  whites,  in  pro- 
portion to  population. 

The  following  table  gives  the  convictions,  by  race 
and  crime  in  the  Boone  County  Circuit  Court  for  1901 : 


•Havelock,  Ellis,  The  Criminal,  p.  209. 


Crime 


59 


Convictions  in  the  Boone  County  Circuit  Court  fob 

1901. 


1901 

3 

- 

i 

i 

-. 

I 

4 

Q 

» 

3 
P- 

3 
s 

a 

t 

3) 

5 

— | 
P 

3 

< 

> 

r. 

O 
9 

w 

1 

• 

N 

a. 
» 

B 

o 

d 

d 
■d£' 

5" 

CD  & 
."     ® 

:    O 

3S! 

£ 

o 
o 

if 
I 
? 

0 

E 

3) 

Whites.. 

2 

l 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

25 

1 

36 

Negroes. 

1 

4 

2 

1 

4 

12 

During  1901  and  1902  there  were  82  convictions  in 
this  court,  of  which  only  12  were  negroes.  The  large 
number  of  convictions  of  whites  is  explained  by  the 
special  efforts  made  to  overtake  the  illegal  sale  of  liquor 
in  Columbia  and  elsewhere  in  the  county.  Several  in- 
dividuals were  each  convicted  on  as  many  as  six  and 
eight  counts. 


CHAPTER  IX 

POLITICS 

A  discussion  of  the  advisability  and  justice  of  the 
sudden  enfranchisement  of  the  negro  in  1866  is  not  here 
intended.  It  is  assumed  that  to-day  there  is  no 
divergency  of  unbiased  opinion  as  to  his  then  total  un- 
fitness for  the  proper  exercise  of  responsibilities  so 
grave  to  himself  and  so  far-reaching  to  the  nation. 
When  the  ballot  was  first  put  into  his  hand  he  was  as  in- 
capable as  a  Hottentot  of  rightly  understanding  and 
performing  the  high  duties  which  the  chances  of  war 
had  thrust  upon  him.  How  he  understood  and  per- 
formed them  the  history  of  the  ' '  reconstruction  period ' ' 
amply  illustrates.  Ha  quickly  became  a  dangerous  en- 
emy to  just  and  stable  government.  Anarchy  every- 
where followed  his  elevation  to  power.  That  the  social 
and  political  institutions  of  the  South  survived  even  the 
brief  years  of  his  supremacy  is  due  as  much  to  the  utter 
impotence  of  the  negro  himself,  as  to  the  race-instinct 
which  was  aroused  to  its  utmost  self-assertion  in  the 
alarmed  Caucasian.  The  momentous  issues  involved, 
the  fact  that  not  only  civil  but  social  questions  also 
seemed  to  be  at  stake,  and  that  everything  dear  to  them 
as  men  seemed  to  be  in  danger  of  subversion,  touched 
the  whites  of  every  class  and  condition  to  the  quick  and 
united  them  into  a  vast,  solid  voting  machine  as  over 
against  the  vast  and  solid  thousands  of  ignorant  and 
sinister  votes  of  the  blacks.  And  the  party  alignments 
formed  more  than  35  years  ago  exist,  with  only  rare  ex- 
ceptions, at  the  present  day.  And  the  average  negro 
is  scarcely  one  whit  more  fit  to  cast  a  ballot  now  than 
was  the  average  negro  35  years  ago.     The  writer's  vote 

(60) 


Politics 


SI 


in  school  and  bond-issue  elections,  not  to  speak  of  great 
national  and  international  party  policies,  like  the  tariff 
and  the  money  standard,  has  been  nullified  more  than 
once  by  a  big  "buck  nigger"  who  followed  him  at  the 
polls. 

Though  not  numerically  strong  enough  in  the  State 
to  jeopardize,  directly,  the  best  interests  of  the  common- 
wealth, the  negro  votes  in  Missouri  would  become  a  most 
formidable  factor  in  any  political  contest  in  which  the 
white  votes  might  be  more  evenly  divided  than  at  pres- 
ent. In  such  case  the  negro  vote,  one-third  of  which  is 
illiterate,  would  become  the  controlling  element  in  the 
elections.  An  analysis  of  the  political  situation  will 
make  this  clear. 

Party  Lines  in  Missouri,  1900. 


Demo'tic 

Repu'can 

Prog.  Peo. 

Probation 

Soc.  Dem 

Soc.  Labor 

State.   ...       351,922 

314,092 

4,244 

5,965 

6,139 

1,294 

Boone                .  Rin 
county:         *'°*" 

1,679 

47 

53 

21 

3 

Columbia'            996 

1 

804 

4 

11 

7 

There  are  in  Missouri  809,797  white  and  46,887  ne- 
gro males  21  years  old  and  over,  855,684  in  all.  In 
Boone  county  there  are  6,690  whites  and  1,125  negroes 
of  voting  age.  In  Columbia  there  are  1,098  whites  and 
445  negroes  of  this  class.  The  tabulated  vote  of  the 
State  given  above,  reveals  how  this  mass  of  voters  di- 
vides along  political  lines.  It  does  not,  however,  class- 
ify the  vote  ' '  by  color. ' '  But  it  is  well  known  that  only 
with  the  rarest  exceptions  the  negroes  here  as  elsewhere 
in  the  country  still  vote  with  the  Republican  party.  This 
is  illustrated  in  Boone  county  where,  of  1,125  negro 
voters,  certainly  not  more  than  15  or  20  vote  the  Demo- 


62  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

cratic  ticket.  In  Columbia,  with  a  negro  voting  popu- 
lation of  445,  not  more  than  six  are  Democrats— and 
that  despite  the  fact  that  they  have  nothing  to  hope  for 
from  the  Republicans  in  the  way  of  "spoils."  No  ne- 
gro has  ever  held  federal  office  in  Boone  county.  Even 
the  janitor  of  the  Columbia  post  office  is,  at  this  writing, 
a  white  man.  Thus  far  Boone  county  and  Columbia 
have  been  regarded  by  the  party  managers  as  so  safely 
Democratic  that  no  particular  attention  has  been  paid 
to  the  negro  vote.  It  would  ordinarily  be  useless  to 
spend  money  upon  it.  But  in  elections  other  than  State 
and  National  in  which  "party  lines"  are  not  sharply 
drawn,  the  negro  vote  of  Columbia  has  shown  itself  to 
be  excessively  venal.  Even  in  school  elections  it  is  an 
open  secret  that  scores  of  "black  ballots"  have  been 
bought  by  white  men  with  a  few  gallons  of  poor  whis- 
key! 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  NEGRO S  FUTURE 


Two  alien  races  cannot  occupy  the  same  territory 
indefinitely  on  terms  of  perfect  equality.  All  sentimen- 
talists to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  race  conscious- 
ness, with  its  resulting  affinities  and  repulsions,  exists 
and  operates.  What,  therefore,  will  be  the  final  destiny 
of  the  American  negroes?  If  there  is  any  solution  of 
the  problem  presented  by  their  number,  poverty,  igno- 
rance, immorality  and  general  helplessness,  other  than 
the  one  indicated  in  the  chapter  on  their  health  and 
morals,  it  must  come  to  the  surface  speedily  or  the  prob- 
lem will  be  beyond  the  reach  of  helpful  or  even  possible 
interference. 

It  can  not  be  said  too  emphatically  that  all  schemes 
for  the  solution  of  the  problem  by  the  forcible  applica- 
tion of  mechanical  means  by  the  stronger  race  are  al- 
together impracticable.  The  plan,  for  example,  to  de- 
port to  some  independent  territory  beyond  the  seas  some 
eight  or  nine  millions  of  persons,  holding  hundreds  of 
millions  of  dollars  of  property,  and  for  generations 
closely  dove-tailed  into  the  economic  situation  of  the  na- 
tion, breaks  down  by  its  own  weight.  Even  if  trans- 
portation facilities  and  money  enough  could  be  obtained 
for  such  a  scheme,  *  its  accomplishment  would  not  only 
leave  the  South 's  agricultural  and  manufacturing  in- 
dustries paralyzed  for  generations,  it  would  also  sound 


•If  one  ship,  carrying  1000  passengers,  should  leave  American 
shores  each  day  of  the  year,  it  would  take  25  years  or  longer  to 
complete  the  transportation  of  these  millions — making  no  allow- 
ances for  increase  by  birth.  And  at  the  minimum  cost  per  capitum 
of  $50.00,  the  transportation  would  mean  the  expenditure  of  $500,000,000, 
not  including,  of  course,  remuneration  for  loss  of  property,  of  which  they 
hold  $700,000,000. 

(63) 


64  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

the  death  knell  of  whatever  hopes  for  the  negro's 
betterment  may  be  entertained  to-day  by  philanthrop- 
ist and  sociologist.  The  South  can  not  suddenly  dis- 
pense with  the  negro's  labor,  nor  can  the  negro  dispense 
with  the  white  man's  supervision  and  control.  No- 
where and  at  no  time  has  the  negro  race  shown 
itself  capable  of  self-government.  Africa  is  still  a 
wilderness,  except  where  the  white  man  has  planted 
his  foot.  Hayti  and  San  Domingo  are  rapidly  re- 
verting to  barbarism.  Liberia  is  a  failure.  ''Re- 
construction days"  in  the  South  throw  an  interesting 
light  upon  the  subject.  Whenever  in  this  country  the 
negroes  are  allowed  to  follow  their  strongly  gregarious 
instincts  there  also  we  find  among  them  the  most  im- 
perfect socialization.  Contact  with  and  supervision  by 
the  whites  is  essential  to  their  welfare. 

Of  course,  the  same  arguments  apply  to  the  seg- 
regation of  the  negroes  anywhere  on  this  continent. 

Nor  is  their  education,  as  at  present  conceived  and 
practiced,  the  looked-for  panacea.  The  trouble  with  the 
negro  is  not  merely  that  he  is  ignorant.  A  few  years 
of  proper  schooling  could  easily  remedy  that  deficiency. 
The  difficulty  is  more  radical  and  lies  embedded  in  the 
racial  character,  in  the  very  conditions  of  existence. 
The  negro  race  lacks  those  elements  of  strength  that 
enable  the  Caucasian  to  hold  its  own,  and  win  its  way, 
and  bring  things  to  pass.  Negroes  cannot  create  civil- 
izations. They  only  prosper  under  tutelage,  under  rigor- 
ous restriction.  Theirs  is  the  child-race,  left  behind  in 
the  struggle  for  existence  because  of  original  unfavor- 
able environment  and  consequent  inheritance  of  physi- 
cal and  mental  conditions  that  foredoom  to  failure  their 
competition  on  equal  terms  with  other  races.  "That 
the  convolutions  in  the  negro  brain  are  less  numerous 
and  more  massive  than  in  the  European  appears  cer- 
tain."*    The  fundamental  equality  sometimes  claimed 


♦Waitz,  Anthi-opologie,  vol.  II.  p.  208. 


The  Negro's  Future  65 

for  him  by  sentimentalists  is  contradicted  both  by  phy- 
siology and  history. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  vast  sums  expended  by  phil- 
anthropists in  planting  and  equipping  institutions  for 
the  higher  literary  and  scientific  culture  of  the  race— 
for  what  is  always  the  flower  and  fruitage  of  a  long, 
slow  evolutionary  process— have  not  been  justified  by 
any  appreciable  practical  results.  The  fact  that  the  num- 
ber of  graduates  from  such  institutions  has  increased 
but  slightly  from  year  to  year  certainly  does  not  indicate 
a  very  large  return  from  the  investment.  This  is  espec- 
ially true  when  we  remember  that  education  does  not, 
eo  ipso,  transform  a  man  morally.  It  may  be  that 
the  pedagogical  methods  heretofore  pursued  are  alone 
at  fault,  but  amid  present  conditions  negro  "graduates" 
find  themselves  sadly  out  of  place.  What  the  negro 
most  needs  is  industrial  training,  the  inculcation  of  the 
work-habit,  to  fit  him  for  at  least  relative  industrial  ef- 
ficiency. Labor,  foresight,  self-control— these  are  the 
lessons  that  the  negro  must  learn.  And  it  will' take 
more  than   one  generation   to   drill  them  into  him.* 

In  all  the  discussion  about  educating  the  negro,  fit- 
ting him  thereby  for  a  "higher  sphere,"  the  fact  is 
usually  forgotten  that  in  the  keen  competition  called  the 
"struggle  for  existence "  the  negro  must  not  only  meet 
those  of  his  own  racial  calibre,  but  others  who  are  man 
for  man  far  more  able,  the  masterful  Caucasians,  who 
have  not  only  trained  minds  and  hands  enough  for  their 
own  needs,  but  an  overplus  with  which  to  dominate  the 
destinies  of  less  fortunate  peoples.  In  the  free  move- 
ments of  human  society  men  always  find  the  level  at 
which  their  abilities  fit  them  into  the  economic  and  so- 
cial fabric.  Attempts  to  order  it  differently,  to  change 
a  man's  level  artificially,  to  fit  him  unnaturally  into 
his  surroundings,  can  produce  nothing  but  confusion. 

•Kcano.    Kthnology.   p.   46.      Waifz,  Anthropologic,  vol.   I,  n    106 
5 


66  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

That  is  the  negro  problem  in  a  nutshell.  He  is  out  of 
place  in  America.  Nature  never  intended  that  this 
country  should  be  his  habitat.  And  most  of  the  efforts 
heretofore  made  to  improve  his  conditions  here  simply 
repeat  the  initial  mistake.  Education  cannot  make  a 
$10,000  man  out  of  a  ten-cent  boy.  Neither  can  edu- 
cation make  a  Caucasian  out  of  an  Ethiopian.  Edu- 
cation can  not  make  a  gentleman  out  of  a  white  man  who 
has  several  generations  of  low-grade  blood  in  his  veins. 
Much  less  can  it  take  a  negro,  with  an  inferior  cranial 
capacity  and  a  poorer  brain  development,  and  with  cen- 
turies of  superstition  and  immorality  rioting  in  his 
blood,  and  elevate  him  to  a  position  side  by  side  with  a 
Caucasian  inheritor  of  a  millennium  of  glorious  history. 
It  is  simple  fact  that  no  matter  how  well  you  educate 
him,  the  negro  cannot  compete  with  the  white  man,  man 
for  man.  It  is  like  putting  a  child  of  ten  against  a  man 
of  forty.  In  this  very  fact,  however,  lies  the  hope  of  the 
race.  The  unfit  are  thereby  being  weeded  out  and  the 
fit  alone,  however  few  in  number,  will  survive. 
That  some  negroes  with  white  blood  in  their  veins  rise 
above  the  level  of  their  race  merely  clinches  the  argu- 
ment by  depressing  the  general  capacity  of  the  others. 
"In  fact,  without  miscegenation  the  negro  seems  to  have 
no  future,  a  truth  which  but  for  false  sentiment  and 
theological  prejudice  would  have  long  since  been  uni- 
versally recognized."*  This  does  not  mean  that  there 
ought  to  be  miscegenation,  but  only  that  without  it  the 
negro 's  case  is  hopeless. 

In  closing,  just  a  few  words  about  the  so-called  "so- 
cial question. ' '  In  Columbia  the  segregation  of  the  ne- 
groes is  as  complete  as  it  can  well  be  as  long  as  they  re- 
main a  part  of  the  population.  They  serve  their  white 
neighbors  in  various  humble  capacities.  In  many 
instances,   particularly   where  the   negroes   concerned 


•Keane.  Ethnology,  p.  265. 


The  Negro's  Future  67 

belong  to  the  "old  regime,"  the  intercourse  thus 
necessitated  is  cordial  to  a  marked  degree.  Among  the 
whites  the  desire  is  general  to  be  as  helpful  as  possible 
to  a  helpless  people.  On  the  part  of  the  negroes,  how- 
ever, especially  the  young,  the  attitude  is  usually  one  of 
distrust  or  latent  animosity.  Wherever  the  two  groups 
touch,  the  white  man  commands,  the  black  man  obeys. 
Of  inter-racial  social  life,  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the 
term,  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace.  The  "color  line" 
is  distinct.    It  is  also  ineradicable. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  "social  question"  does  not 
exist  at  all  except  in  the  perfervid  imaginations  of  a 
few  alarmists,  or  as  the  "shibboleth"  of  the  political 
demagogue.  Just  as  soon  as  the  negro  shall  become  in- 
herently worthy  of  the  rights,  privileges  and  opportuni- 
ties now  so  jealously  reserved  for  himself  by  the  white 
man  he  will  enter  into  such  rights,  privileges  and  oppor- 
tunities automatically. 

In  the  meanwhile  (and  this  is  said  in  all  kindness 
for  the  negroes)  the  blacks  in  this  country  ought  to  be 
treated,  in  theory,  not  in  practice,  just  as  we  have  dealt 
with  the  red  men.  They  ought  to  be  treated  as  "wards 
of  the  nation, ' '  and  as  such  dealt  with  by  a  department 
of  the  National  Government  created  for  that  purpose. 

Surely,  forty  years  after  emancipation,  it  is  not  too 
much  to  hope  that  the  partisan  policies  and  fatuous  mis- 
takes of  the  Freedman  's  Bureau  would  not  be  repeated. 

For  the  education  of  the  children  there  should  be  a 
separate  and  distinct  school  system,  carefully  adapted 
to  their  peculiar  needs,  under  the  direction  and  control 
of  skilled  specialists.  Nothing  could  be  more  idiotic 
than  that  provision  of  the  Missouri  Constitution,  for  ex- 
ample, which  ordains  that  schools  for  negro  children 
shall  "be  the  same  in  conduct,  management,  control,  ad- 
vantages and  privileges  as  for  the  white  schools  of  cor- 
responding grade. ' '     That  is  precisely  what  they  should 


68  The  Negroes  of  Columbia,  Missouri 

not  be.  Aside  from  the  debatable  question  whether  the 
negroes  are  intellectually  able  to  receive  and  use  such 
an  education,  they  do  not  need  an  education  that 
would  fit  them  for  an  ideal  condition.  They  do  need 
instruction  that  will  open  to  them  the  practical  opportu- 
nities of  life  in  the  South  to-day. 

For  their  police  control  there  should  be  separate 
and  distinct  courts,  just  as  we  are  now  coming  to  have 
courts  for  offending  juveniles,  and  probation  officers 
for  wayward  children.  Aside  from  their  racial  psychical 
and  physical  organization,  the  prolific  cause  of  juvenile 
crime— the  want  of  a  wholesome  home  life— also  lies 
back  of  much  of  the  crime  of  which  the  negroes  are 
guilty,  and  the  offenders  ought  to  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ingly. Nothing  can  be  more  short-sightedly  brutal  than 
the  ordinary  treatment  now  meted  out  to  negroes  guilty 
of  crime.  Our  attitude  toward  this  feature  of  the  prob- 
lem ought  not  to  be  so  entirely  punitive,  and  more 
reformatory. 

Politically  they  ought  to  be  frankly  disfranchised. 
They  are  "political  idiots,"  and  it  is  sheer  madness  to 
permit  them  to  misuse  and  prostitute  a  privilege  which 
the  Anglo-Saxons  won  for  themselves  only  through  a 
thousand  years  of  painful  history.  This  would,  cer- 
tainly, work  an  immediate  hardship  upon  a  worthy  few, 
but  in  a  complex  race  question  such  as  this,  the  individ- 
ual can  have  no  rights.  And  vicarious  suffering  is  ever 
the  cost  of  progress  everywhere.  It  may  be  very  im- 
portant that  a  few  intelligent  and  worthy  negroes  should 
have  the  right  to  vote.  It  is  more  important  that  the 
mass  of  negroes  should  be  put  into  the  way  of  pro- 
gress, and  the  fact  that  the  negro  votes  is  an  insuperable 
bar  to  his  progress  in  the  South. 

Eeligiously  they  ought  to  be  under  the  guardian  tu- 
torship of  the  white  churches.  While  we  are  sending 
well-educated,  trained,  and  expensively  equipped  white 


The  Negro's  Future  69 

missionaries  to  die  of  fever  among  the  savages  of  Africa 
we  still  find  it  consonant  with  duty  to  turn  over  the  semi- 
savages  at  home  to  the  guidance  of  ignorant,  frequently 
self -conceited  and  often  immoral  negro  "preachers." 
The  comparatively  few  negro  clergymen  of  education 
and  character  among  them  have  little  if  any  real  influ- 
ence for  good.  The  mass  of  their  constituents  is  out  of 
sympathy  with  their  works  and  hopes. 

We  have  taken  hold  of  this  entire  negro  problem  at 
the  wrong  end.  It  is  high  time  to  admit  the  error  and 
begin  aright. 


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